Anyone heading across the border for groceries will have to scratch raw poultry, live birds and eggs off of their to-buy list until further notice, due to a recent avian flu outbreak in Oregon and Washington.
Officials with Canada Border Services Agency confirmed Friday that the restrictions by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency were put in place for Oregon products on Dec. 29, and extended to Washington on Thursday (Jan. 8).
According to information on the CFIA website, the ban includes “all birds, all raw poultry and all poultry products and by-products that are not fully cooked, including eggs and raw pet foods, sourced, processed, packaged or shipped from the states of Oregon and Washington.”
Locals shopping stateside on Friday were surprised on their return trip to learn they could not bring their eggs and chicken into Canada. There had been no warnings or notice of the restrictions, Rob Bosley told Peace Arch News.
Bosley, a White Rock resident, said by email that border officers gave him a choice of taking the items back to the store or throwing them out. “Tons” of people were dumping the products, Bosley said.
Other prohibited items include feathers, poultry manure and lab material containing poultry products or by-products.
The measures are to prevent the illness’s spread, and are not due to a food-safety risk.
Meanwhile, steps to address an avian flu outbreak in the Fraser Valley – where 11 sites were identified last month – continue.
According to the CFIA, no new sites have been identified since Dec. 19. Surveillance of the affected zone is ongoing and restrictions on poultry and poultry product movements remain in place.
Strict surveillance is to continue for the next 90 days, and if no new cases are found within that time, the zone will be considered free of avian influenza.
For more information, visit www.inspection.gc.ca
