Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan’s Food and Safety Agency has suspended import of poultry, live cattle and animal products from some regions of five more countries.

The World Organization for Animal Health reported that a highly pathogenic disease "bird flu" has been found in Algerian Batna and Umm al-Bouaghi, South African Gauteng, Finnish Western Finland and Russian Krasnodar administrative-territorial units. In addition, low pathogenic "bird flu" and African horse sickness has been found in South African Western Cape, Limpopo, and Israeli Hazafon administrative-territorial units.

The Food and Safety Agency is taking relevant measures in line with Organization's warning against infectious animal diseases that may enter Azerbaijan's territory from other countries.

In this regard, the Agency has imposed temporary import restrictions on all types of live birds and poultry products from the above-mentioned territories, as well as all types of live cattle and animal products from South African Limpopo and Israeli Hazafon administrative-territorial units, and live horses from the South African Western Cape.

Meanwhile, an appeal has been made to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee to take relevant measures to strengthen control over vehicles arriving and passing through the mentioned territories.

Earlier, the Agency imposed a temporary ban on the import of poultry from some territories of Bulgaria, Korea, Ukraine, Estonia, Kuwait, Germany, Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, Iran, Sweden, Vietnam, Iraq, India, Wales, France, England, Finland, Scotland, the Czech Republic and Belgium into Azerbaijan after the World Organization for Animal Health’s warning.

The Azerbaijani Food Safety Agency was established in 2017 and is a central executive authority, which oversees the regulation of food safety standards, risk assessment, official registration of food products and their packaging materials, issue of food safety certificates to exported food products. It is also responsible for state control over food safety and protection of rights of food product consumers at all stages of the food supply chain, including food production, supply, packaging, storage, transportation and trading, use in catering and service sector, utilization and disposal as well as implementation and regulation of state policy in the aforementioned areas.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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