Sensing a possible threat of deadly bird flu, the government has imposed a ban on import of poultry chickens from four European countries. According to a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) issued by the commerce ministry on Monday, the government has banned poultry import from Slovakia, Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina and Germany.
The SRO says: "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (I) of section 3 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1950 (XXXIX of 1950), the Federal Government is pleased to direct that the following further amendment shall be made in the Import Policy Order, 2005, namely: in the aforesaid order, in paragraph 16, under heading A, in clause (iv), after the word " France", Slovakia, Austria, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Germany" shall be inserted.
Besides putting concerned departments on heightened alert, the government has already banned poultry import from three countries including India, Iran and France.