Thailand's Ministry of Commerce will invite trading partners from Europe and the Middle East to inspect chicken and shrimp production in Thailand in May with an objective to boost exports of the two products, said a senior ministry official.

Chantra Purnariksha, director-general of the ministry's Department of Export Promotion, said here on Saturday that the plan came after 46 countries outside the European Union (EU) had imposed an import ban on poultry from France following an outbreak of bird flu.

Saudi Arabia, which formerly imported poultry from France at about 80,000 tons annually, has lowered its import and this should give an opportunity to Thailand to export its boiled or cooked chickens to EU member countries and the Middle East, Mrs. Chantra was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying.

Thailand's trading partners in Europe and the Middle East would be invited to inspect production and processing of chickens and shrimps in Thailand in May so that they would have full confidence that the products are free of avian influenza and toxic chemical residue problems, she said.

The Livestock Development Department is expected to announce that Thailand has solved bird flu outbreaks in the country and once the announcement comes out, it should help boost more exports of Thai boiled chickens, she said.

In a bid to further promote boiled chicken exports, operators of chicken and shrimp processing companies are scheduled to visit Japan around March and April, she added.

Source: Xinhua