import restrictions on cooked poultry products from china in october 2007 china raised the concern that since july 2004 the european communities had suspended the importation of cooked poultry meat from china because of the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in china. the oie guidelines on ai explicitly stated that heat treatment de-activated the virus and that restrictive measures associated with ai should not be applied to cooked poultry meat. the ec health commissioner had agreed to lift the prohibition of cooked poultry meat from china into the european communities and china requested that this be done as soon as possible in accordance with oie guidelines and the sps agreement. the european communities responded that the prohibition in question had been in place since january 2002 and related not only to avian influenza but also to certain hygiene concerns. these issues had now been resolved and the ban should be lifted within a matter of weeks. in april 2008 china noted that since july 2002 the european communities had prohibited imports of cooked poultry due to hygienic concerns and ai. china had taken steps to address these concerns and to facilitate a risk evaluation. china had thought the issue was now resolved and that the ban should have been lifted. this had not yet occurred but china hoped that trade could soon take place. the european communities observed that trade could take place safely for both cooked and fresh poultry meat and the european communities imported large quantities of both from a range of countries including countries where ai was endemic in the bird population. in the case of china discussions had taken place regarding the conditions under which trade could take place. an agreement had been reached on these conditions and the european communities had also expected trade to resume. unfortunately there had been an obstacle. china had explicitly agreed to send virus isolates to ec reference labs but these had not yet been received. until these had been provided the european communities could not take the final administrative measures to allow trade to resume. china noted that it was possible that the isolates had already been provided. however china questioned the rationale for this request as cooked poultry presented a very low risk for transmission of the ai virus. the oie clarified that there were two issues under consideration. one was the need to encourage transparency and disease reporting including sharing of information on isolates in order to characterize strains of the virus. the second aspect was the identification of which measures should be applied to trade. there was now a lot of information on the risks of highly pathogenic ai and on the lack of risk associated with low pathogenic strains as well as information on effective means for inactivation of the virus. the terrestrial animal health code was also clear on the lack of risk from pigs hence no trade measures were warranted. the oie remained concerned that members were not applying oie recommendations. the oie invited members to bring forward new information that might warrant a revision of the recommendations. it was critical that trade measures be proportionate to the risks and that members not apply unjustified measures. this would discourage reporting of disease outbreaks and lead to increased risks to human and animal health. the representative of the oie recalled that the oie could hel with the resolution of technical disputes among members if so requested. the european communities responded to china that as indicated by the oie it was in the interest of transparency to have virus isolates. the european communities required the same data for outbreaks in ec member states to improve scientific knowledge of the disease. in october 2008 china thanked the european communities for the removal of import restrictions on cooked poultry products from shandong province of china. however this treatment was limited only to shandong p