The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (November 28) that in view of a notification from the Korean authorities about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza in Chungchengnam-do Province of Korea, and notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in Csongrád County and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County in Hungary, and Bellary District of Karnataka State in India, it has banned the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above areas with immediate effect. In addition, an import ban on poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from Skåne County in Sweden was imposed following notification from the OIE about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza at Helsingborg in Helsingborg Municipality of Skåne County of Sweden with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     Import bans imposed earlier by the CFS on poultry meat and products from other areas in Korea, Hungary and India are still in force.

     A CFS spokesman said that in the first 10 months of this year, Hong Kong imported about 2 400 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and 1.76 million poultry eggs from Korea, about 3 400 tonnes of frozen and chilled poultry meat from Hungary, and about 0.03 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and 218 000 poultry eggs from Sweden. No poultry meat or poultry eggs were imported from India in the same period.

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

Ends/Monday, November 28, 2016
Issued at HKT 19:49

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