23/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - At the Agriculture Council on Monday, Germany, supported by France, called for a European "intervention force" to be set up to fight bird flu, and to be made up of experts to be available on a permanent basis, to homogenise border controls of the EU and to take decisions on isolating poultry and reserves of vaccines. Commissioner Markos Kyprianou stressed that such teams already existed, and that it would be better to improve upon the current structures. Germany also suggested bringing in an obligation for travellers coming from the stricken countries to submit written declarations to customs pledging that they were not transporting any poultry or banned products, an idea which the Commission felt to be pointless. Italy, supported by France, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Poland, Spain and Hungary, asked for measures to help the poultry industry to ride out the current crisis.