Japan suspended poultry imports from the Netherlands on Thursday following an outbreak of bird flu in France and other European countries, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said.
The move came after the Dutch government informed Tokyo of its plans to vaccinate chickens to prevent the spread of the disease in the country. Japan prohibits the use of bird flu vaccines and imports of meat from vaccinated poultry.
In 2005, Japan imported 7,082 tons of processed egg products from the Netherlands but did not import any Dutch poultry meat.
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