Live poultry trade set to resume in Shanghai

A man feeds chickens at a poultry farm in Jinshan District. — Zhang Xinyan

Shanghai will continue pushing sales of poultry that has already been slaughtered, even though a city ban on the live fowl trade ends tomorrow, officials said.

In a bid to stop the spread of the H7N9 bird flu virus, Shanghai authorities closed all live poultry markets between January 31 and April 30 — when the virus tends to be at its peak.

But the authorities said that previously designated live fowl trading spots will not be allowed to simply resume business tomorrow.

They must first pass strict inspections of hygiene and disease control, animal epidemic prevention, food security and environmental protection first, said the Shanghai Commerce Commission.

And after resuming business, they will also be required to obtain safety certificates from suppliers and halt business at least one day a week to sterilize premises and equipment, said the commission.

A total of 119 retail trade spots and two live poultry wholesale markets were closed under the seasonal ban.

Shanghai will eventually eliminate live poultry sales, said the commission.

To this end, authorities will continue supporting chilled poultry sales, encouraging new habits through more outlets, and promoting brand-building, it said.

Jing'an District government said on Monday that its only live poultry trading outlet will no longer sell live fowl, even with the ban lifted.

Instead, it will build food markets which sell standardized fresh poultry products, said the district government.

However, lawmakers have discovered in investigations that some supermarkets and food markets failed to store chilled chicken at the proper temperature, according to xinmin.cn.

Four supermarkets and food markets in downtown were investigated yesterday. Temperatures in some refrigerators containing chicken were found to be between 12 and 14 degrees Celsius.

Temperatures should not exceed 4 degrees Celsius, said the report.