India dispatches egg shipment after becoming bird flu free

India has resumed egg exports by dispatching its first egg shipment to Muscat after the country declared itself free from Bird flu, trade sources said.

All world countries had stopped importing eggs from India after the country witnessed bird-flu outbreak in Maharashtra during last February. However, the Union government took various steps including culling lakhs of birds to check the outbreak and succeeded.

Subsequently in the second week of August, the Indian government has declared that the country was free from the bird-flu and the same was intimated to World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE), also known as Organisation of International Epidemia, an intergovernmental organisation where 167 countries including India are members.

Following this, OIE has intimated all its member countries by publishing the Indian government’s ‘birdflu-free status’ claim report on August 17 on its website, paving way for India restarting its egg exports after a gap of six months, said All India

Poultry Products Exporters Association (AIPPEA) general secretary P Valsan to FE.

Valsan said that, Oman (Muscat) was the first country that evinced interest in re-starting egg imports from India after the coutry’s ‘bird flu — free’ status.

He said the Indian poultry industry has dispatched two containers of eggs (4.72 lakh eggs per container) to Muscat through Tuticorin port last week.

Following Oman lifting egg ban on India, he said that other Arabian countries including Dubai and Qatar also have initiated negotiations with the

Indian poultry industry for egg imports. He said that the country would export minimum nine containers of eggs daily in near future.

Hoping for regular orders from outside countries, the Indian poultry industry is gearing up to increase the table egg production in the weeks to come.

However, Valsan said that the egg prices also have been surging after the country resumed egg exports after six months.

Currently, the egg prices jumped to Rs 1.30 from 1.20 and is expected to increase by 20 paise per unit in a month’s time. Before the birdflu outbreak, India was exporting 3.6 lakh eggs every day, primarily to Gulf countries.

Source : Finiancial Express