Australian poultry products have been banned in Japan recently. This has been done after the case of outbreak of the avian influenza in the ducks in Victoria in Australia came to attention. This is for the first time that any sort of ban is placed on the food exports from Australia to Japan on human health issues in the past 30 years.

It was announced by the government of Japan that it shall no longer allow eggs, processed foods, or chicken meat from Australia to their country. Already there are very few Australian meat outlets in Japan, but placing a complete ban on it has been received as a major shock for the poultry industry in Australia.

There is need for a thorough analysis to be done to find out whether the meat being exported really is infected, and the cause of the infection needs to be caught hold of and destroyed. The National Farmers Federation was of the view that the Japanese Government didn’t go through the procedure of conducting investigations about the matter, but placed a ban on it straight, this is a biased and quick reaction by the government.

“As we understand it, there is no food safety issues involved in this outbreak; it is contained to just two duck farms. Poultry and eggs are completely safe to eat, the virus is non-transmissible and the risk to human health is negligible”, said NFF trade specialist Charlie McElhone.

There is need for a detailed investigation to be done so that the cause of the outbreak can be determined. Besides this, the Japanese Government also needs to make matters equal for the traders and the local people, by conducting tests first and then placing such bans, which could have a major impact on the trading economy of the nations.