The Swiss Government announced it will reopen its market to Chinese poultry under certain conditions, an official with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) said yesterday.

Since mid-February, officials in Switzerland have been examining 292 food samples from 13 countries, including China.

The government announced on February 27 that it would ban the import of Chinese poultry, claiming the products contained too many antibiotics.

Following final examination results, where 96.2 percent of the samples were found to meet appropriate standards, the Swiss felt it was unreasonable to completely ban poultry from China, MOFTEC officials said.

The Swiss Government has now approved suppliers who meet their product standards and will allow them to continue to import to their country. Those products that have been quarantined will be released if they qualify.

(China Daily April 10, 2002)