Amid bird flu outbreaks in many parts of the world, members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) should better deal with movement of fowls and livestock across borders, a FAO official said in Da Nang City Friday.

Countries and regions should strengthen coordination, cooperation and dialogue at government level, as well as raise public awareness about the risk of bird flu spreading, He Changchui, Assistant Director General and Regional Representative of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Asia and Pacific region, said at a press briefing right after the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Avian and Influenza Pandemics.

It is very hard to root out cross-border smuggling of livestock and fowls due to market factors, he said, noting that APEC economies should focus on enhancing public awareness of their residents about the issue, and encouraging "safe trade in accordance with international standards".

According to the FAO, over 200 million fowls have been culled in bird flu-hit countries and regions so far. Meanwhile, total loss caused to regional and international trade in poultry has been estimated at 10-15 billion U.S. dollars, including 1.2 billion in Thailand, the world's 4th biggest fowl exporter, 200 million dollars in Vietnam and 170 million dollars in Indonesia.

At the press briefing, Ian Shugart, chairman of APEC's Health Task Force, said the one-day ministerial meeting mentioned a plan on APEC pandemic response exercise developed by Australia, under which APEC economies will, planned from June 7-8, respond to a threat of human-to-human influenza transmission in their own territories, from their own offices, rather than gathering together at a central point.

Eight or nine APEC members have agreed to participate in the exercise, four or five of them will play a primary role, Shugart said, noting that the plan has yet to be finalized.

The meeting adopted an Action Plan on the Prevention and Response to Avian and Influenza Pandemics during the one-day meeting, the five areas include multi-sectoral cooperation and coordination on avian and pandemic influenza, establishing best practices and common approaches to risk communications, mitigating negative effects of avian influenza on agriculture and trade, working with the private sector to help ensure continuity of business, trade and essential services, and strengthening regional and international cooperation.

The current meeting was attended by 190 representatives, including seven health and agriculture ministers and 13 deputy ministers from the 21 APEC members, APEC's Secretariat and five international organizations.

Since late 2003, the H5N1 bird flu virus has affected fowls in nine of the APEC economies and humans in four economies. According to the latest report of the World Health Organization, by the end of April there have been 204 cases of humans infected with H5N1, 113 of whom died.

Source: Xinhua