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The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (October 28) announced that the import ban imposed on oysters for raw consumption from the Province of British Columbia, Canada, has been lifted with immediate effect.
In view of a notification from the Canadian authorities that oysters for raw consumption harvested on or before August 18 this year in coastal waters of the province were subject to a recall as the oysters might be contaminated by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the CFS had imposed an import ban on the affected oysters since August 19 to safeguard public health and food safety.
A CFS spokesman said, "The Centre has been following up on the incident closely with the Canadian authorities since then. In view of Canada's submission of an investigation report and the implementation of enhanced surveillance programmes and actions, the Centre has conducted an assessment and decided to lift the import ban imposed on oysters for raw consumption from the Province of British Columbia, Canada."
The spokesman added, "The CFS will continue to monitor closely the oysters for raw consumption imported from the province. Appropriate actions will be taken to safeguard food safety and public health."
Ends/Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:18
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