Malaysian poultry products are free of the avian influenza, according to internationally specified rules and codes, and countries should resume their imports without any hesitation, a government minister said on Monday, according to the Bernama news agency.
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Agriculture and agro-based industry minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Malaysia adopted transparent measures to eradicate the disease, which occurred in August last year.
“We have nothing to hide and as far as Malaysia is concerned we have done (everything) according to international standards,”he said, adding that importing countries like Japan and those of the European Union had no reason to worry about the safety standards.
Muhyiddin was opening the Food and Agriculture Organisation/World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)/World Health Organisation consultation on ‘Avian Influenza and Human Health: Risk Reduction Measures in Producing, Marketing and Living with Animals in Asia.’
He said Malaysia was declared free of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in accordance with the Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
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By GlobalDataMuhyiddin said Singapore and Brunei authorities had visited Malaysian poultry farms and, satisfied with the safety measures taken, had resumed their imports of poultry products from Malaysia.
Asked to elaborate on his speech later, the minister said the disease had incurred much cost for affected countries, including Malaysia, and it was only fair that the importing countries resume the business once the country had been declared free of the disease.
“Obviously they (importers) want to be extra cautious about things but they should take our declaration seriously because it (declaration) was accepted by international organisations as the safety measures adopted were in accordance with the rules and codes specified for that purpose,” he told reporters.
In his speech, Muhyiddin said he hoped that the consultation he had opened would give a clearer indication of what countries like Malaysia had done and how they had managed the disease, and that Malaysia would be given a clean bill of health and business would resume as usual.
The four-day consultation is attended by more than 90 representatives of from various organisations. It will address issues concerning the interaction between humans and the production, processing, marketing and distribution of animals for food.
