The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (November 29) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Tarn Department in France, County Durham District of County Durham and South Staffordshire District of Staffordshire County in the United Kingdom (UK) and Bledsoe County of the State of Tennessee in the United States (US), and a notification from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in Fukushima Prefecture in Japan, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.
A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 670 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 150 000 poultry eggs from France, about 940 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 230 000 poultry eggs from the UK, about 10 650 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 227.48 million poultry eggs from the US and about 1 260 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 292.13 million poultry eggs from Japan in the first nine months of this year.
"The CFS has contacted the French, British, American and Japanese authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.
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