Bird smugglers deepen threat of human flu crisis
By Andrew Bounds in Brussels
Published: May 16 2006 19:09 | Last updated: May 16 2006 19:09

Chinese chicken is being illegally smuggled into Europe, increasing the risk of a human bird flu pandemic.

European Union customs authorities have been put on alert after the deception was detected last year. Since January last year 21 consignments of Chinese frozen uncooked poultry have been intercepted. Such meat is banned in the EU because of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain and other diseases rife in China.

“The risks in relation to avian flu are an example of the necessity for strong measures to ensure that imports comply fully with sanitary and veterinary requirements,” said Markos Kyprianou, the European health commissioner. “The commission is alert to all potential sources, including illegal imports.”

“This is fraud,” said Jorg Wohajn, a spokesman for Olaf, the EU’s anti-fraud arm, which is co-ordinating efforts to crack down on the trade. “But there is also an animal and human safety aspect.”

There are two variants of the trade. One involves using fake papers claiming that the meat comes from another country, typically Brazil. The other involves putting boxes of poultry in consignments of legal vegetables. Scanning a container by X-ray reveals the problem but the fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated. Slovenian authorities seized packets of poultry last year that had been hidden beneath same-sized packets of broccoli and garlic. They could be found only by manual search.

The Chinese authorities have denied giving approval to the shipments and pledged to crack down on them. There are no figures available on the extent of the trade. The EU imported 557,000 tonnes of poultry last year, mainly from Brazil and Thailand.

“While the commission can advise and offer assistance, customs controls are a matter for the member states,” said a spokesman.

Several European member states have declared that the threat of bird flu has receded. Cases have fallen from 100 a week in February to about five a week. However, that reflects the fact that migratory birds are nesting: when they move again later in the year the risk will grow.

Washington also gave warning this month that illegally imported pets could bring bird flu to the US. In 2004 two crested hawk eagles carrying the virulent strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus were seized from a Thai passenger at Brussels airport. The European Commission considers it almost inevitable that human-to-human transfer will occur, leading to a flu pandemic. Up to three per cent of the population could die, according to some estimates.

To prevent severe economic disruption, the commission is negotiating with third countries to persuade them not to close their borders if an outbreak occurs, because that would merely slow the disease’s progress by a few days.

■A severe avian flu pandemic could cost life reinsurers up to $11.5bn (€bn, £bn), Standard & Poor’s, the credit ratings agency warned yesterday, reports Andrea Felsted in London.

Life reinsurers have exposure because life assurers, which are expected to bear the brunt of insurance claims in the event of avian flu mutating into a human form, pass on some of the risk of paying out on policies to reinsurers.

Andrew Hughes, a credit analyst with Standard & Poor’s European Insurance Ratings, said: “We believe that the life reinsurance sector would be most exposed in the event of a severe global flu pandemic.”

S&P said that in the event of a harsh pandemic, life reinsurers could be hit by claims arising from life assurers in many regions of the world. In the event of a natural catastrophe or a terrorist attack, claims would be expected to be confined to a more localised area.

However, S&P said that while a severe human flu pandemic would have a significant impact on all aspects of the economy, it currently posed no threat to European corporate ratings.