Thailand will freeze imports of chicken breeds and chicken products from the European Union (EU) over following couple of months to prevent a possible spread of avian flu, the Department of Livestock Development said on Tuesday.

In a regulation issued by the department, imports of chicken breeds, live chickens and other chicken products from EU countries, especially France and Germany, are to be frozen for at least 90 days from now, reported the Thai News Agency.

The order will be lifted after the two key European exporters inform the Thai government that their measures had been proved to effectively prevent the spread of the H5N1 virus among their chicken products, said an official from the department.

Meanwhile, Thailand's chicken exports to Europe has slumped and the consumption of Thai poultry products in the bloc has reduced by half due to concern for the avian flu outbreak.

The prices of exported Thai chickens to EU have dropped to some 2,300 U.S. dollars per ton from 2,700 U.S. dollars. Also declined were the purchasing orders for cooked chickens from the bloc.

In Thailand, local chicken consumption has shrinked although a new bird flu outbreak had not yet occurred. Currently, local prices of live chickens have fallen to 21-22 baht (some 0.54 U.S. dollars) per kilogram from 34 baht (0.87 U.S. dollars). The prices are likely to drop further if people are still worry about flaring up of the epidemic.

Source: Xinhua