"The ban is unreasonable and inconsistent with international rules," the ministry's spokeswoman Gao Yan said.

She said the ban was imposed without scientific or factual proof, and was "frivolous and irresponsible."

On June 4, the ROK Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, without coming up with any test proof, announced that it has found traces of H5N1, a bird flu, in duck meat that had been imported from the Shanghai-based Daying Meat and Poultry Packing Company.

The ROK ministry then imposed a ban on importing poultry and poultry products from China on the same day.

Relevant agencies of the Japanese government, based merely on information provided by the ROK, announced that they had also place a ban on importing poultry and poultry products from China, starting June 8.

Gao said the Chinese government has always paid great attention to the prevention and control of bird flu, and often surveys and monitors the outbreak of epidemic diseases affecting poultry.

She said China has strictly examined and quarantined all poultry and poultry products, with the number of monitored samples every year surpassing one million. The monitoring results indicate that no H5N1 poultry flu has been found in China so far.

Investigation and monitoring of the Shanghai company and the origin of the poultry processed by the firm have also found no bird flu, Gao affirmed.

Gao said that the Chinese side demands that the ROK and Japanese governments act in accordance with the principles of science and fairness, reconsider the steps they have taken and resolve the problem as soon as possible.

(China Daily 06/10/2001)