"Poultry and poultry products of this region are safe for human consumption," the officials from the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation said in a statement after a meeting in the Indian capital.

Monday's meeting unanimously called for a "temporary ban" on poultry products, including vaccines.

The Pakistani representative, director general of livestock and fisheries Baz Mohammad Junejo, declared that no case of the bird flu had been noted in Pakistan since December.

"The meeting is discussing possible cooperation to tackle the problem of bird flu," Indian health ministry spokesman Harsh Bhal said.

Saarc groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

New Delhi says heightened vigilance at its borders has so far prevented the H5N1 virus, which has emerged in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, from erupting within Indian territory.

Weaker strains of the flu have been reported in Pakistan, Taiwan and the United States.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said at the weekend that cooperation with regional nations hit by the deadly virus had "significantly improved" but that the response to the crisis in some poorer countries had been slow.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has criticised Asian nations for putting economic concerns before public health by attempting to cover up outbreaks in a bid to protect their agricultural sectors and tourism industries.