Brussels, 04/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission considers that the measures taken by Italy to aid poultry producers deal with the bird flu crisis seem “difficult to justify in the light of State aid rules”. On 4 July, therefore, it decided to launch an investigation to check the legality of the Italian decree of 2005, which made provision for three kinds of measure: the purchase by the State of 17,000 tonnes of poultry meat and other poultry products for humanitarian aid purposes; the suspension of the payment of tax, social security contributions and payments for operators in the poultry sector; and the granting of aid for loans for the conversion and restructuring of poultry undertakings. The Italian authorities have one month to provide all the information necessary to allow the Commission to gauge the compatibility of these measures with Community legislation. The Commission will give its decision after analysing the Italian arguments.