A United Nations agency warned today against pre-emptive bans of poultry imports to ward off a possible bird flu outbreak, saying they were unnecessary and destructive to world trade.
Nations including Senegal, Argentina and Sudan have halted all poultry imports, regardless of origin - moves that the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said ran counter to the spirit of global trade accords and animal health standards.
"Countries arbitrarily banning the import of poultry products from non-infected countries are increasing the vulnerability of international global markets to price shocks," the FAO said.
"Trade restrictions to safeguard human and animal health should be imposed only in proportion to the risk involved and ... should be removed promptly when no longer needed." The FAO declined to specify which nations it thought were acting irresponsibly.
The agency said disease-related export restrictions and cross-border disease outbreaks had already affected global trade in 2004/2005, with international meat prices at 10-year highs.
In Europe, consumers have been rattled by worries about poultry safety, with Italian consumption of poultry products falling 40 percent, the FAO said.
"Consumer responses to potential bird flu outbreaks are already having a disruptive impact on industries in Europe and beyond," it said. The FAO said avian influenza was not a food-borne disease and that the bird flu virus was killed by the heat of normal cooking.
"There is no risk of getting avian influenza from properly cooked poultry and eggs," it said.