SLOVENIA ON AI-RELATED POULTRY IMPORT RESTRICTIONS

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000848 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, EB/CBA DEPT OF AGRICULTURE FOR FAS/DLP, FAS/ITP, FAS/ICD EMBASSY VIENNA FOR QUINTIN GRAY AND SARAH HANSON USTR FOR ERRION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD EAGR ECON SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA ON AI-RELATED POULTRY IMPORT RESTRICTIONS REF: A. SECSTATE 216147 ¶B. LJUBLJANA 0757 ¶1. (U) Econ Specialist delivered ref A points to Rok Tomsic, U.S. desk officer at the Slovene Ministry of the Economy, and Simona Salamon, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture. As reported ref B, Slovenia currently bans poultry imports from 14 countries, all of which have had cases of H5N1. Tomsic noted that Slovenia currently does not import any poultry products from the U.S. ¶2. (U) Slovenia's action plan to fight avian flu (ref B) does not include a strategy to place a general ban on poultry imports in the event of an outbreak of avian flu. Rather, the action plan targets specific countries where highly pathogenic strains have been discovered. In Slovenia, the responsibility for placing health-related restrictions on imports of poultry rests with the Ministry of Agriculture. ROBERTSON NNNN