Slaughtering poultry in marketplaces banned in Beijing
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-01-29 15:31

Slaughtering poultry in marketplaces and selling uninspected meat and poultry products were banned in Beijing Wednesday, an emergency move by the local government to safeguard the capital city from the bird flu virus.

The virus was confirmed Tuesday as the cause of duck deaths in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Liu Jian, vice director of Beijing Municipal Industry and Commerce Bureau, announced here Wednesday a tighter control and inspection over poultry products entering Beijing from other localities in the country.

Any bird flu cases should be immediately reported to the Beijing Municipal Food Safety Office and people who delay such reporting will be punished severely, said Liu.

Statistics from the local government show there are 139 poultryfarms, 63 markets, 36 supermarkets and 31 poultry slaughterhouses in Beijing. No poultry products from bird flu-stricken countries such as the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Japan and Thailand have been found locally so far.

Inspection of poultry products available in Beijing during the Spring Festival showed these items were bird flu-free and safe for eating, said an official from the Food Safety Office.

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