China appeals to Europe to lift cooked chicken ban

BEIJING, May 30 (Reuters) China has appealed to the European Commission to consider reopening its markets to Chinese cooked chicken after a nearly five-year ban, state media reported today.

China has enhanced safety procedures for exported chicken products and its poultry was safe, Li Yuanping, head of the quality, supervision and inspection department in the bureau of imports and exports, was quoted as saying.

''No exporters of cooked chicken that are registered with the quarantine department have had any cases of bird flu, and they have been keeping good records,'' the China Daily quoted Li as saying.

Li's appeal comes as the safety of China's food and drugs has come under international scrutiny following a series of standards breaches that have led to fatalities and product recalls.

China has also seen outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu in poultry around the country, as well as 25 human cases of the virus since 2003.

But Li said all major exporters of frozen prepared foods had established their own raw material production bases, where the raising of vegetables and poultry was in line with international standards of quality and breeding.

The European Union imposed a general ban on a range of Chinese food imports in January 2002 due to the detection of residues of veterinary drugs in food. Restrictions on certain products have since been lifted.

REUTERS CS ND0842