PHNOM PENH, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Improved control and regulations of imported poultry and poultry products and better market hygiene will probably have the best prospects for future prevention and control of avian influenza in Cambodia, study commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said Tuesday.

    "Such interventions would also help to improve the quality and hygiene of poultry products in general," said Dr Olaf Thieme, FAO Animal Production Officer, citing findings of several German-funded studies coordinated by FAO and Cambodia since 2007.

    "The demand for poultry products is growing and the more favorable production conditions in neighboring countries may lead to an increasing import of these products. This situation may also pose the greater risk for the reintroduction of avian influenza into the country," a FAO report based on the studies' findings said.

    The report said, to prevent possible avian influenza outbreaks, government interventions should focus on strict import controls at the borders as large poultry producers in neighboring countries will find Cambodia's growing poultry market attractive.

    The ongoing drafting of a veterinary law should be instrumental towards this goal, the report added.

    The report also recommends that regulating the transport and marketing of poultry and its products should also be conducted particularly in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap which are the main centers for trade of poultry.

    The transport system (collecting birds in the villages, bringing them to collection points and from there to urban centers)is likely to spread disease over long distances, the report said.

    With funding from Germany, a series of studies were conducted by FAO's local partners during the past two years in order to investigate whether avian influenza and its control measures have negative impacts on local poultry breeds and on livelihoods of smallholder poultry producers.

    One of these studies found that the low incidence of avian influenza in Cambodia and the official approach to its control did not result in a major threat to the livelihoods of small poultry producers and the local poultry genetic resources.

    The project aims to promote policies and strategies to prevent and control avian influenza, which is sensitive to the needs of smallholder producers, especially poor rural families, and to poultry genetic resources.