Import of poultry meat and products from areas in Korea and Netherlands suspended

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (December 1) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in Jeongeup-si, Jeollabuk-do Province in Korea, and in the Province of Friesland and the Province of Zuid-Holland in the Netherlands, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that Hong Kong imported about 740 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 8.9 million poultry eggs from Korea, and about 4,600 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from the Netherlands in the first nine months of this year, according to the Census and Statistics Department.

     "The CFS has contacted the Korean and Dutch authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.