Some time ago I responded to a message concerning the risk of bird flu from feathers. At the time I said there was little risk. Since then, we have more information and the U.S. government has determined that there is a risk to handling feather products from countries experiencing outbreaks of H5N1 influenza. There is currently a ban on the importation of birds and bird products from H5N1-affected countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The regulation states that no person may import or attempt to import any birds (Class Aves), whether dead or alive, or any products derived from birds (including hatching eggs), from the following countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Egypt, France (USDA-defined restriction zone only), India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Laos, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Niger, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam (current as of March 21, 2006). This prohibition does not apply to any person who imports or attempts to import products derived from birds if, as determined by federal officials, such products have been properly processed to render them noninfectious so that they pose no risk of transmitting or carrying H5Nl and which comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirements. Therefore, feathers from these countries are banned unless they have been processed to render them noninfectious. Additional information about the import ban is available on the USDA website. You can verify this at (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/qa.htm). I'll try to find out more info on just constitutes "proper processing" and pass it on.

I know that a lot of flies are tied in countries in Africa and SE Asia, as well as in Sri Lanka. Will flies from countries on this list also be on the banned from importation if they have feathers in the pattern??

Bill

William,
The key phrase in Ralph's post is

"This prohibition does not apply to any person who imports or attempts to import products derived from birds if, as determined by federal officials, such products have been properly processed to render them noninfectious so that they pose no risk of transmitting or carrying H5Nl and which comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirements"


Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Ralph,
Thanks for the informative post.

As the major supplier into North America of Jungle Fowl capes and nail feathers we are very concerned about the recent developments regards avian flu and import / export restrictions. Jungle fowl feathers, primarily the male 'nail' feathers have become very popular for inlays on custom rods - I don't build a rod without these. These feathers are also required for many traditional Atlantic salmon flies and are widely used for steelhead and Pacific salmon flies. Many of you who use these feathers have been purchasing them directly from us, one of our distributors or, the retail outlets they service.

Our Jungle fowl (Gallus sonnerati) capes and nail feathers are from birds domestically raised in the UK. These products are imported into the USA and Canada under C.I.T.E.S. permit (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and US Fish & Wildlife permit.

In my opinion it is not a matter of if the EU border will be closed to all export and the US border closed to all import, but rather when. In an attempt to mitigate importation difficulties we have recently brought in a couple of very large shipments to supplement our current inventory (already rather significant) and have several more scheduled for shipment from England. It is our intention to have approx. $US 500,000 in capes and individual nail feathers in inventory within the next two months. We expect this will provide us a two - three year buffer against any importation prohibitions.

Further, to insure future supplies and to conform to recent DEFRA regulations, we are constructing new fully enclosed aviaries, purchasing new and larger incubators and, have a revamped breeding program in process. This is a three year plan that we hope will ensure the long term availability of these unique feathers and to provide even better product quality to North American rod builders and fly tiers.

Andy Snedden
Custom Rodbuilders Inc.

Andy.

What are the chances that your feathers that you are planning to get into the USA before a ban may just have been infected and before your three year plan is completed.. Sorry but what you are doing seems on the face of it purley expedient from a commercial standpoint only. If I have this view and I may be a million miles away from the facts then others may just hold them to, so It probably would bear some further information on your part...
Regards

Mike Oliver

Mike,

The primary reason for bringing larger than required amounts of the product in now is commercial, pure and simple. We want to have product available for our customers should the borders be closed but would certainly not do so (nor would we be allowed) if there were any risk whatsoever.

Having said this, the product is coming from the UK where, to my knowledge, there is no current outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian flu. This is why the UK is not among the banned countries listed by the CDC (see the list that Ralph provided in his post). Also, the product has been 'dead' and processed for quite some time- long before bird flu was on the radar outside of SE Asia. Further, the product is cleaned and disinfected prior to packaging and is subject to several levels of inspection prior to export and, upon import.

We are not currently processing birds and will not be doing so for the foreseeable future. As you can well imagine the health of the breeding colony is rather important.

Andy Snedden

Andy,

Thanks for explaining. I hope that you manage to keep your livestock healthy. It must be a bit of a worry for you. Glad to see we have a business helping to redress our balance of payments problem a tad. Good luck.

Mike Oliver