The Hindu Business Line : Kerala allows movement of poultry products from TN

KERALA, which stopped movement of poultry products from Tamil Nadu on Monday in the wake of the bird flu scare, allowed the transport of chicken and eggs into the State via Valayar checkpost on Tuesday evening, bringing relief to poultry producers.

According to poultry industry sources here, the Kerala Government has agreed to allow poultry from Tamil Nadu on the basis of the certification issued by the Tamil Nadu Animal Husbandry Department on its safety. To facilitate the release of the poultry goods at the border post, the respective animal health officials from the Coimbatore, Namakkal and Erode districts were present at the checkpost.

It is said though the Kerala Government has agreed to permit the inter-state movement, there was considerable delay in sending the necessary orders to check-post officials. Finally, the checkpost was opened for the State's poultry products on Tuesday evening, the sources said.

Following this, many trucks were allowed into Kerala. However, in the case of broilers, the poultry farms which regularly supply the birds to Kerala market are expected to resume their transport from Tuesday night.

The stoppage of the poultry movement into Kerala had created a crisis for the Tamil Nadu poultry producers who depend on the Kerala market for eggs and broilers. The Kerala market consumes about 40 per cent of the poultry products produced by Tamil Nadu.

In the meantime, the scare of avian flu is said to have impacted the Kerala poultry market as well and the consumer apathy has led to a drop of 50 per cent in the sale of egg and chickens, according to the poultry trade sources. With the buyers declining supplies that reached Kerala early on Monday before the State clamped inter-state transport, some of the egg consignments from Tamil Nadu could not be fully unloaded, the sources said.