YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. At the February 23 sitting, the Armenian government accepted the proposal for signing the technical assistance program on early discovery and prevention of bird flu in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus between the Armenian government and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The purpose of the program is to enhance the capacity for collection and dissemination of information about bird flu for developing a program on emergency readiness to prevent the spread of bird flu in the region, in particular because of bird migration and trade. Grisha Baghian, head of the State Veterinary Inspection of the RA Ministry of Agriculture, told reporters following the sitting that it is envisaged to implement the program in 2006-2007. The program consists of two parts: technical assistance that envisages the sending of equipment, protective garnment, disinfectors, etc, to Armenia; and training assistance, within the fraamework of which the Armenian experts will undergo training abroad, particularly in Hungary and Croatia. It was noted that control has been tightened in Armenia in anticipation of bird migration from the neighboring countries in mid March.

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