The United States and Japan have agreed to reduce the regionalization in the event of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) to the county level from the current state level.
The agreement, announced in a Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), states that USDA issued export certificates for all poultry and egg products covered under the new regionalization policy on December 10, making the move official.
The new terms allow for product to remain eligible from areas outside the affected U.S. county if certain conditions are met, according to the USDA. Previously, trade would be restricted from the entire U.S. state.
The agreement has a three month phase-in period, meaning Japan will continue to accept the previous version of the export certificates until March 5, 2020.
The USDA’s GAIN report can be found here.
