The European Union has extended its ban on poultry imports from the United States for another month due to continued concern over the outbreak of bird flu, officials said on Monday.
An outbreak of a different strain of the highly contagious virus in Asia has caused at least 24 deaths and prompted the slaughter of tens of millions of fowl.
"The current disease situation and available information do not for the moment allow a reduction of the protective measures to a confined area," the European Commission said in a statement.
EU veterinary experts from the 15-nation bloc will review the decision at a meeting on March 30.
The EU halted imports of eggs and day-old chicks last month when Washington reported a case of bird flu in Texas that was a stronger, more deadly strain, than previously discovered.
Normally, the EU bans exports from an affected area rather than the whole country once it is confident that the outbreak of the disease has been contained.
The United States is a major poultry exporter to the EU. One-quarter of annual EU egg imports come from the US, some 13,000 tonnes of eggs worth 20 million euros in trade.
One-half of the egg imports are destined for consumption while the remainder are hatching eggs. The EU also imports 450,000 day-old chicks a year from the US, mostly turkeys, accounting for 50 percent of the 15-nation bloc's imports.
The EU halted poultry imports from Canada earlier this month following an avian flu outbreak.
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