Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Abd Aziz Jamaluddin said the ban, effective Jan 16, would only be lifted when the situation in China returned to normal.

"We don't have to worry about a shortage of supply as all private sector companies in the country which import chicken from China have enough stock for three months," he said here yesterday.

He added that the department had permanently frozen the import of chicken from Thailand since last year due to the virus.

"We cannot take chances as the breakout hit the country two years ago," he said, referring to the outbreak, and spread, of the Avian flu virus in Paya Jaras Hilir, Sg Buloh.
China had reported a total of six cases of H5N1 virus this year, with the latest being the death of an 18-year-old youth in the South China province on Jan 26.

Other deaths included a 19-year-old teenager in Beijing on Jan 5, a 27-year-old woman in Shandong on Jan 17, a 16-year-old boy in Hunan on Jan 20 and a 31-year-old woman in Xinjiang on Jan 23.

On another matter, Aziz said the department, under the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry, was planning to "transform the production" of chicken in the country to ensure more stable supply.

"We are looking forward to having more chicken cuts in the market compared with the supply of whole chicken," he said, adding that countries like Thailand, Brazil and the Netherlands were using the same approach.

However, he said, the transformation would only be done with the help from the government, through the Price Mitigation and Chicken Stock Fund, with a RM50 million (S$21 million) allocation.

Currently, the country imports 20,000 tonnes of chicken cuts yearly from China, Europe and the United States.

Abd Aziz was speaking on the last day of the ministry's one-week visit to Indonesia to exchange ideas and experiences in the agriculture sector.

The visit, headed by Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, also covered places like Lampung in Sumatra and Malang in Central Java.

New Straits Times