Government resisting 'housing order' pressure from poultry industry

Government is resisting pressure from the poultry industry to impose a housing order for free range birds because of the threat from avian influenza.
 
Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been found in wild birds in eight European countries and there is a concern that water fowl migrating south could carry the virus to the UK. Poultry industry leaders have asked Defra to implement a 30-day housing order in the East of England because of the threat.
 
At an avian influenza roadshow event organised by the Poultry Health and Welfare Group, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) confirmed that the industry was seeking such an order, although the agency does not think the risk is high enough at the moment. 
 
Gary Ford, the NFU's chief poultry adviser, said he did not think such an order would be implemented in the UK for the time being, even though similar orders had been made in the Netherlands and Denmark.