The United States and Canada have decided to lift their embargo on imports of certain French poultry (excluding ducks), put in place in October 2023 after the start of the vaccination of ducks against avian flu, announced Monday, January 20, the French Ministry of Agriculture. These embargoes followed the establishment “of the duck vaccination program against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in France”specifies the press release.
“The French authorities managed to convince (…) of vaccination safety » ducks against avian flu, thus allowing the lifting of restrictions on unvaccinated poultry and products/by-products from unvaccinated flocks. The country of foie gras is currently continuing its second compulsory vaccination campaign for ducks.
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Fear that vaccination masks infection
The lifting of the United States embargo, decided on January 16, concerns poultry and poultry products (except ducks), including hatching eggs and day-old chicks. In other European Union (EU) countries, the lifting also concerns exports of ducks and duck products.
On December 24, Canada lifted restrictions on exports of French avian genetics (hatching eggs and day-old chicks).
These embargoes took effect on 1is October 2023, the same day as the launch of the French vaccination campaign against HPAI in ducks. The American Department of Agriculture then justified the embargo by the fear that vaccination “masks an infection with the avian flu virus”. The United States had also restricted imports of live ducks and raw duck products from the EU.
-According to French customs, exports of the category “live poultry and eggs” to the United States represented only 1% of France's exports.
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