A proposed US rule would link avian-influenza recovery more closely to global animal-health guidance, with potential consequences for market access and supply planning.

The US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has opened a proposal that would reduce the waiting period applied to certain live-bird and avian-commodity imports following highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) from 90 days to 28 days. It is a consultation, not a rule already in force, but its commercial relevance is immediate: the waiting period helps determine when affected trading partners may resume supplying the US market.

The proposal would bring the US approach closer to World Organisation for Animal Health guidance issued in 2021. APHIS says the 28-day interval reflects two flock-level incubation periods. Import conditions, certification requirements and disease-control safeguards would continue to apply, so the change is designed as a different recovery timetable rather than a removal of biosecurity controls.

For poultry businesses, the distinction matters. A 90-day pause can reshape procurement calendars, hatching-egg availability, breeding-stock movements and customer commitments well after an outbreak has been contained. A shorter, clearly defined pathway could give exporters and importers a more predictable basis for restarting trade, while regulators retain the ability to assess individual disease situations.

APHIS's accompanying economic assessment frames the proposal as a way to reduce unnecessary supply disruption and support market stability. The agency notes that more timely access to imported eggs from the European Poultry Trading Region could generate estimated annual benefits of $1.1 million to $4.4 million. The value is not simply in additional volumes: it is also in reducing uncertainty across a supply chain that reacts quickly to disease-related restrictions.

The consultation runs until 23 November 2026. Its outcome will be watched by exporters, hatcheries, egg suppliers and poultry-health authorities because it places HPAI at the intersection of disease management and trade policy. If adopted, the proposal could make the 

For further info > USDA.