The highly pathogenic avian influenza of the H5N1 subtype (HPAI H5N1) was identified at a farm in Suphan Buri province and the disease spread to several provinces in Thailand, following which the government culled nearly 63 million birds in 2004.
In the years following the ban, European Commission experts carried out several inspection missions in Thailand to evaluate the measures that have been implemented to eradicate and control the outbreak.
According to the EU, Thailand implemented several measures such as intensive surveillance and quick elimination of infected animals, and successfully eradicated HPAI H5N1 from the region.
The last inspection mission in March 2011 revealed that Thailand can provide sufficient assurance of complying with the EU import requirements for poultry meat.
Following the favourable outcome of the inspection, the Commission proposed to the EU Member States to lift the ban on poultry meat imports from Thailand, who supported the draft proposal.
Thailand Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut said that after the outbreak, the government partnered with chicken exporters to implement stringent steps to upgrade local poultry farming to meet the standards of the EU and the World Organisation for Animal Health.
About 50,000 tons of raw meat chicken to the EU are expected to be shipped in the first post-ban year, Wongsamut added.
Thailand exporters expect the export resumption to generate an extra THB4bn ($128.90m) income in the first year.
