The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced on December 23 that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Weilheim-Schongau District in the State of Bayern in Germany, Zawierciański District of Śląskie Region and Ostrzeszowski District of Wielkopolskie Region in Poland, and a notification from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Netherlands about an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Limburg Province in the Netherlands, 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 430 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 800 000 poultry eggs from Germany, about 4 070 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 24.82 million poultry eggs from Poland, and about 730 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from the Netherlands in the first nine months of this year.

"The CFS has contacted the German, Polish and Dutch 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.