Brussels, 03/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - During the most recent Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, the European Commission welcomed the proactive response by France and the measures taken following the detection of highly infectious avian flu outbreaks in three poultry farms in the Dordogne.
According to a press release, as soon as confirmation of the first infection was confirmed, the French Department of Agriculture demanded the introduction of measures to tackle the disease and prevent its spread to other farms. The main measures adopted include: the slaughter of all the animals identified in the farms,; the setting up of protection and monitoring zones around each farm; enhanced bio-security measures for stock rearing; the introduction of proactive monitoring of stock in regulated zones and the suspension of trade and exports of living birds from the Dordogne, until the results from this monitoring are made known.
The Department of Agriculture points out that large bird breeders and owners should introduce bio-security measures to protect the animals.
Commission Decision
In an effort to prevent any unnecessary interruptions to trade within the Union and prevent third countries introducing unjustified barriers to trade, the Commission adopted an implementing decision on Wednesday 2 December, to swiftly define Union level protection and monitoring zones in France. The Commission indicated that it had examined these measures, in cooperation with France and was able to provide assurances that the protection and monitoring zones defined by the competent authority of this member state, “were a sufficient distance from farms in which outbreaks have been confirmed”. The Commission decision applies until 31 March 2016. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)