Speaking at the meeting yesterday, Dep. PM Nhan warned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as local authorities to control sales of illegal poultry and totally destroy any infected consignments after testing, to curb the avian flu pandemic.
Illegal transport of poultry without proper quarantine or quality certification from China into Lang Son and Quang Ninh Provinces has increased the seriousness of the avian flu pandemic, in which new and more dangerous virus strains have appeared.
Accordingly, the Dep. PM asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Hanoi authorities to crack down on sales of smuggled poultry in Ha Vi Market in Hanoi, and simultaneously adopt measures to ensure adequate supply of water-fowl for customers, so as to avoid a slump in the market or an increase in prices in the last months of the year.
Hanoi authorities should also warn the average citizen of the harmful effects of illegal smuggled poultry that has not been tested.
The Ministry of Public Security should also play a key role in the fight against cross-border smuggling which is facing numerous difficulties since smugglers use trackers through forests or across mountains, to escape detection.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has been asked to submit a project to combat smuggling of poultry across border crossings to the Prime Minister before November 30.
At another conference on combating and controlling the spread of infectious diseases in cattle and poultry, deputy minister Diep Kinh Tan stressed that from now until the beginning of 2013, avian flu is likely to spread widely because of the wet weather. Therefore, the local health watchdog should not be lax in taking precautions or else the pandemic will leave immense amounts of damages for farmers in the region.
Diep Kinh Tan, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development stressed the above at a conference held in the Mekong Delta.
Authorities in the Mekong Delta must continue the vaccination campaign as it has been quite effective in the past, with no new reported cases of the 2.3.2.1 C virus strain that has recently spread in many provinces in the north including Hai Phong, Ha Tinh, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Bac Kan, Thanh Hoa and Quang Ngai.
As of now, the country has had to import 10,000-13,000 tons of chicken meat, according to the Department of Animal Health. At the moment purchase power is still weak but this may improve in the last months of the year.
Source: SGGP
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