WASHINGTON – The US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) placed import restrictions on poultry from France, as well as live ducks, duck eggs and unmitigated/untreated duck products from the APHIS-recognized European Poultry Trade Region (EPTR, excluding Great Britain) as well as Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. The restrictions come from increased risk of introducing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) into the United States and went into force Oct. 1, 2023.

APHIS based the restrictions on the World Organization for Animal Health’s definition of poultry and are the result of France’s decision to vaccinate commercial meat ducks against HPAI. Vaccinating presents a risk of introducing HPAI into the United States.

Currently, the United States does not allow the import of poultry from countries affected with HPAI or from flocks that have received the HPAI vaccination. Poultry vaccinated for HPAI may not show symptoms of the virus which could be circulating throughout those flocks. This could potentially lead to the export of infected live animals or virus-contaminated products to the United States.

European Union (EU) Member States and other European countries have open access to and can trade in avian commodities on the European common market. Many of these countries are also part of the EPTR for export purposes. The EPTR allows listed European countries to self-impose and self-lift restrictions for HPAI disease for the purposes of trade.

European countries were not considering vaccination against HPAI at the time the EPTR was established, therefore, APHIS did not evaluate HPAI vaccination in the review of the European countries, according to the agency. Vaccination against HPAI potentially exposes the United States to an undetermined risk from EPTR imports. With the way poultry moves under the EPTR, APHIS cannot be assured countries trading in the European common market can reliably certify that exports do not originate from European countries that vaccinate poultry for HPAI. The restrictions address the risk of open trade within Europe while accounting for the higher risk with imports from France.

APHIS said the agency continues to discuss HPAI vaccination programs in the European Union with the European Commission.