The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (January 31) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Gifhorn District in the State of Niedersachsen in Germany, Poznański District of Wielkopolskie Region in Poland and Province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, and a notification from the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Cheshire East District of Cheshire County and Tyne and Wear County in the United Kingdom (UK), 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 430 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 800 000 poultry eggs from Germany, about 4 070 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 24.82 million poultry eggs from Poland, about 730 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from the Netherlands, and about 70 tonnes of chilled poultry meat, about 2 970 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 250 000 poultry eggs from the UK in the first nine months of last year.
"The CFS has contacted the German, Polish, Dutch and British authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE 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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