European Union veterinary experts today approved an EU-wide ban on the import of exotic birds to help counter the threat of bird flu

The move was taken after a parrot, imported from Suriname, died in quarantine in Britain over the weekend after contracting the H5N1 flu strain. It was believed the parrot was infected by other birds in quarantine.

"Member states today endorsed a draft Commission decision to ban imports from third countries of captive live birds other than poultry for commercial purposes," a statement from the EU Commission said.

Germany today found traces of bird flu in two of 25 dead migratory birds discovered at a lake at Neuwied in the west of the country, the state government of Rhineland Palatinate said.

Britain has led the calls for a ban on the importing of exotic birds after the death of the imported parrot, the country's first case of the potentially-lethal H5N1, at a quarantine centre in Essex.

The Belgian Environment Minister, Bruno Tobback, said that the UK had been the only EU country to oppose a ban on importing birds at a meeting in March and accused Britain of performing a U-turn.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: "At the time of the original proposal, it was felt that a total ban would not be proportionate to the risk.

"However, since that time, there has been further global spread of H5N1 and there is a high risk of further geographic spread of virus. This has caused us to reassess captive bird imports, and conclude that it is proportionate to the risk."

It has emerged that the exotic pet dealer at the centre of Britain’s first bird flu case is a convicted fraudster. Brett Hammond, 43, a director of Pegasus Birds and licensed to run the quarantine where the parrot became ill, has refused to answer questions about the case.

Staff at his shop premises in Little Warley, Essex, said that the parrot had died "miles" from the retail outlet, at a separate quarantine premises. A second parrot also died, although tests for bird flu have so far been inconclusive.

It is understood that the parrots, imported from Surinam, had been kept with a consignment of birds imported from Taiwan, some of which have also died.

On Sunday Defra announced its "working hypothesis" was that the bird had been infected by the Taiwanese birds. But authorities in Taiwan say that there have been no reports of cases of H5N1 on the island and the British Government’s theory had no "solid evidence" to back it up.

An alternative possibility is that birds in an earlier batch delivered to the facility could have had a "subclinical" infection, and began secreting bird flu virus only after the stresses of quarantine.

Contaminated droppings could have released the airborne virus that may have infected subsequent batches of birds from Taiwan and South America.

Last night government vets confirmed they are investigating the possibility that H5N1 was present at the quarantine facility much earlier than thought. If this theory is correct, bird flu has probably been present in Britain for some weeks if not months, imported in exotic birds.

The EU-wide import ban will not include individual personal imports of birds, but extra checks are expected to be put in place on people bringing more than five pet birds into a country.

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