The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (November 23) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in County Monaghan in Ireland and Finistère Department, Pas-de-Calais Department and Nord Department in France, and a notification from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in Miyagi Prefecture in Japan, 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 Ireland for the import of poultry meat but not for poultry eggs. According to the Census and Statistics Department, no poultry meat was imported into Hong Kong from Ireland in the first nine months of this year. Moreover, Hong Kong imported about 670 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 150,000 poultry eggs from France and about 1,260 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 292.13 million poultry eggs from Japan in the first nine months of this year.

"The CFS has contacted the Irish, French and Japanese 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.