Hong Kong suspends import of poultry products from South Korean province

HONG KONG, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Food Safety authority of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) said Monday that it has decided to suspend import of poultry products from a province of South Korea due to avian influenza outbreak there.

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) of the HKSAR's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said that in view of a notification from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza in Jeollanam-do, a southwestern province in South Korea, the CFS has ordered suspension of import of poultry meat and products, including poultry eggs, from the province with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

A CFS spokesman said that in the first nine months of this year, Hong Kong imported about 77 tons of frozen and chilled poultry meat and 390,000 poultry eggs from South Korea.

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