So the French have bird flu and the next question ought to be ..'When are we going to ban imports of French poultry into the UK to save guard the health of the British people?'

 Has anybody heard from the NFU yet on this most obvious safety measure? We can all remember the anti British Farmer proaganda generated in France after BSE, well now it is our turn  to gain a distinct marketing advantage for our poultry industry. (I wonder if the major Supermarkets have stopped putting French chicken on their shelves to safeguard the health of their customers?)

Lets hope the Presidential NFU candidates will get their fingers out and show  clearly and unequivocally that they believe in supporting British Farmers before all others.  

Dick

Dick.

UK is nett importer of poultry. Imported dead, dressed poultry has no effect on health of British public.

Seems you just want to get back at the French, after the BSE debacle. The NFU and the British govenment do not decide the policy. That is down to the EU commisioners.

What a state of affairs?

Regards

Well said. Why is it that farmers (and I am married to one) always seem to want to shoot themselves in the foot and score an own goal.

Tit for Tat - apart from showing childish notions achieves nothing. There is no difference between French and British poultry. Instead of doing everything in our power to maintain consumer confidence in our farming industry and the produce on-shelf, we have a mindset that wants to sacre the **** out of our own consumers.

If or rather when bird flu arrives here, what does Dick and those like him intend to say to a) consumers who may find the thought of turning vegetarian more reassuring, and b) the egg and poultry producers whose own businesses may be facing an unknown future. Many of you take great pleasure in taking pot-shots at the NFU for failing to deliver on their communication strategy - or lack of,  - yet you seem to be experts in pressing the self destruct button when it comes to your own ideas on farmer/consumer relations.

For those of us who spend much of our time in working with consumers to gain support for you the farmers, I would ask one thing,  - please engage brain before tapping keyboard.

Annoyed

No, not all poultry is imported dead.

Although not a menber of british public, did anyone tell the dead cat that eating a bird with this flue would not kill it?

'When are we going to ban imports of French poultry into the UK to save guard the health of the British people?'

It seems to me, Dick, that a move of this kind would frighten the British public off all poultry full stop, thus decimating the British poultry (and possibly the egg) industry and throwing thousands of poultry farmers and workers out of work.  Is that what you want?

Malcolm

Malcolm. You are grossly underestimating the intelligence of the great British Public by suggesting that they are unable to understand the diffierence between British and French products. The effect of British BSE in France,and my daughter in law is French, was that the French consumers,supermarkets and resturuant owners  were appalled at the thought of consuming British beef and of course the French government made damm sure that no British beef entered their market place and their beef industry is alive and well today. As you are aware many countries are already banning the importation of French poultry and why we are waiting is to me insane. But as we are refusing to vaccinate against it,just as we did with the foot and mouth plague, I suppose we are sleep walking into yet another disaster. To suggest I want to see the demise of the British pultry industry,when many of my freinds and collegues are Poultry producers,is simply insulting and silly. 

Dick

i think i'm coming round to the idea of your first posting now dick.

i understand the french government are to give their farmers £50,000,000 to dump their poultry meat over here.

If that's true Gerri, it must be contrary to EU law.  Can you share your evidence with Farmers Weekly please and maybe they can look into it.

Cheers

Phil Christopher

Well said Darling (hope it's ok to call you that).  Every time I heard a Radio 5Live presenter raise the spectre of avian flu risk from eating poultry during the past few weeks, it made me livid.  Talk about speculating and scare-mongering.  Then I read the first line of the opening post and Victor Meldrew took over (except that it's not at all funny).

Your posting saves me responding except to say hear, hear.

Cheers.

Phil Christopher.

It was discussed at the NFU AGM.

Margaret Beckett is supposed to be looking into it!

The NFU poultry man (Charles Borne?) said this subsidised dumping was NOT illegal.

phil, i  said i understood that .............., you talk of hard evidence.

you said it must be contrary to eu law.

I am simply agreeing with Dick's origional posting, i do not want the french being paid to dump there unwanted poultry meat here at the expense of our own farmers.