The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (December 22) that in view of a notification from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of Korea about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in Hwaseong-si of Gyeonggi-do Province and Gochang-gun of Jeollabuk-do Province in Korea, and notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Richmondshire District of North Yorkshire County in the United Kingdom (UK), and an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza in Khanh Hoa Province in Vietnam respectively, 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 Hong Kong has currently established a protocol with Vietnam for the import of poultry eggs but not for poultry meat. According to the Census and Statistics Department, in the first nine months of this year, Hong Kong imported about 740 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 8.9 million poultry eggs from Korea; about 8,700 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 330,000 poultry eggs from the UK; and about 3.25 million poultry eggs from Vietnam.
      
     "The CFS has contacted the Korean, UK and Vietnamese 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.
 
 

Ends/Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Issued at HKT 16:33

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