The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (October 31) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Udine Province of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region in Italy and Września District of the Wielkopolskie Region in Poland, 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 according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 120 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 20,000 poultry eggs from Italy, and about 3,480 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Poland in the first nine months of this year.

"The CFS has contacted the Italian and Polish authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH 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.