EU Bans Ukrainian Poultry Imports

The European Union imposed a countrywide import ban on Ukrainian poultry products after a January bird flu outbreak in central Ukraine, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released Feb. 5. Ukrainian officials consider the ban to be “excessive and unjustified,” the USDA said, particularly because the EU is “one of the largest” importers of Ukrainian “premium poultry cuts.” The ban will force Ukrainian producers and exporters to redirect a “significant quantity of poultry” to Asian and African markets through this month, the report said.