Costa Rica Hopes to Export Chickens to United States
Costa Rica is in the final stages of becoming certified to export chickens to the United States — Tico chicken farmers will likely be able to access the U.S. market in September, according to the daily La Nación.
In addition to the necessary U.S. certification, ratification of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) would be necessary for Costa Rica to export chicken to the United States, which has the strictest sanitary requirements in the world.
Hong King, England, Israel and Canada are the only countries certified to export chickens to the United States, National Poultry Farmer Council Director Alejandro Hernández told La Nación.
Meanwhile, Honduras last week banned Costa Rican chicken imports after hundreds of animals in the Caribbean province of Limón were found to be carrying laryngotracheitis, a respiratory disease that affects birds but cannot be transmitted to humans, the daily reported.
Honduras will not import Costa Rican chickens until Central American health authorities visit Costa Rican chicken farms and factories to inspect sanitary conditions.
Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz responded to the ban by remarking that Honduras was overreacting by assuming that the chickens could have the notoriously deadly avian flu. Costa Rica has strict biosecurity measures in place and is completely free of avian flu, he told La Nación.
-Tico Times