US embassy cable - 05DUSHANBE1981

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 001981 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CACEN, SA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ETRD, EAGR, EAID, PREL, TBIO, SENV, TI, USTR, Economics and Trade, Regional Trade 
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN POULTRY BAN CONFUSION; AVIAN FLU: ADDRESSING 
AI-RELATED IMPORT RESTRICTIONS ON POULTRY- STATE 216147 
 
REF: STATE 216147 
 
1.  Although the government of Tajikistan officially issued 
poultry bans on ten countries, customs inspectors are unaware of 
the new regulations.  Mahmadnazar Tashrifov, Senior Inspector of 
the Department of Veterinary Service reported that to date, the 
department has authorized three resolutions banning poultry 
products.  In April, it banned imports of meat products 
including poultry from Afghanistan and China because they had 
reported cases of foot-and-mouth disease.  August 5, Tajikistan 
banned imports of poultry from Russia and Kazakhstan, and 
October 25 it banned poultry products from China, Vietnam, 
Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia, Croatia, and Turkey.  Confirmed 
cases of Avian Flu motivated the State Veterinary Inspection to 
enact these bans.  The bans will be in place until the State 
Veterinary Inspection decides to lift them.  Tashrifov could not 
predict when that would be. 
 
2.  In a meeting December 7, PolOff informed Ibrokhim Mirzoev, 
Deputy Head of the Customs Department of the Ministry of State 
Revenue and Duties of the ten bans in place.  Mirzoev said he 
was unaware and has received no instruction from the Ministry of 
Agriculture to implement the bans.  Customs has taken stringent 
measures to prevent Avian Flu from entering the country. 
Mirzoev assured that all imported poultry is tested for the H5N1 
virus in Tajik laboratories before it is permitted on the 
market.  Tajikistan inspects and tests all poultry, even if it 
has been certified clear of H5N1 by the exporter.  Although 
customs does inspect imported poultry, they still allow imports 
from countries on the banned list such as Russia, Kazakhstan and 
China. 
 
3.  Overall, Tajikistan imported 20% less poultry products 
compared to last year.  This gap has been filled by a 40% 
increase in domestic poultry production.  The government 
implemented a quarantine on state poultry farms and has made a 
concerted effort to grow their own poultry stock.  The price of 
poultry products has not markedly changed.  This year, 
Tajikistan imported $480,000 worth of poultry meat from the 
United States, placing the United States third after Lithuania 
and the United Arab Emirates as the leading vendors of poultry 
to Tajikistan.  Tashrifov maintains Tajikistan will continue to 
import more poultry from the United States. 
 
4.  Comment:  Tajikistan's young government is becoming more 
professional, so it was surprising that the Head of Customs 
would be unaware of the government's recent decrees.  It would 
not be surprising, given the level of corruption, if importers 
found ways around the ban.  END COMMENT 
HOAGLAND 
 
 
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