Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.7 / Trend U. Ismaylova /
Azerbaijan does not import eggs and poultry meat from Germany, which removes the fear of a possible import of dioxin contaminated poultry products, the Azerbaijani Agriculture Ministry's State Veterinary Service's spokesman Yolchu Khanveli said today.
"Azerbaijan imports eggs and poultry meat from Turkey for food needs, from Iran for breeding pedigree birds on poultry farms," Khanveli said.
According to him, a reason for concern would be if similar problems occurred in the countries exporting poultry products to Azerbaijan.
"In case of revealing of such facts, the State Veterinary Service will take preventive measures," Khanveli said.
German authorities have banned sale of products of more than 4,700 farms because of fears that eggs and meat produced by them may be contaminated with dioxin, German newspaper Local reported on Friday referring to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Protection of Consumer Rights.
The farmers in Lower Saxony, where 4,468 farms have been closed, are most affected.
The scandal, in which agricultural farms were supplied with feed for animals and birds contaminated with dioxin, which according to the Agricultural Commission of the Bundestag was produced in the amount of about three thousand tons, broke out in Germany in early 2011.
The Commission's report stated that the technical substance has got into the German feed from producer of the Netherlands, who in addition to fat for fodder manufactures, for example, mixed fats for paper processing in industry. In Germany, Harles & Jentzsch served as a supplying firm, with its leader Siegfried Sievert facing imprisonment for a period of several years.
Earlier, it was reported that contaminated feed admixture was sold for just over a month, from Nov.12 to Dec.23 last year. Now the Ministry of Agriculture of Schleswig-Holstein, where the Harles & Jentzsch is based, stated that the company's products during the analysis showed an excess of the maximum allowable level of dioxin already in March. However, the food manufacturers didn't inform the authorities then.
The experts, in turn, noted that the panic should not be in connection with "dioxin scandal". According to the specialist Antje Gall, who is quoted by the N-24 channel, three or four eggs after a week of feeding hens with poisoned food, have no risk to human health.
The European Commission, in its turn, demanded from the German authorities to provide comprehensive information on the matter.