South Korea will lift its two-year ban on imports of poultry from Australia, as no outbreaks of avian influenza have occurred there since 2013, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday.
The imports will resume next month, as soon as it has been agreed that there are no contradicting opinions from related departments or specialists that say otherwise, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
"It has been confirmed that there have not been any additional cases of the AI epidemic nor any circulation of the pathogen in Australia, so we will allow imports of poultry, poultry products and fowls from the country," a ministry official said.
All imports of birds and poultry products from Australia had been discontinued in late 2012 after an outbreak of AI was reported in the country, and the ban was maintained when the virus re-emerged in October 2013.
Canberra later requested that Seoul lift its ban after it declared itself AI-free in line with World Organization for Animal Health standards early last year.
Imports of Australia-bred birds have not been significant so far. In 2011, South Korea imported 5 tons of turkey and another 5 tons of other poultry from the Oceanian country and did not import any chicken or duck, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. (Yonhap)
