Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced last week that it has suspended the import of poultry meat and products, included poultry eggs, from regions in Russia, France, Canada and the UK due to outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza. 

CFS said the suspensions are meant to protect public health in Hong Kong. 

The regions under suspension include Yaroslavl Oblast in Russia, Pyrénées-Atlantiques Department in France, Norfolk County of Ontario in Canada, and North Lincolnshire of Lincolnshire County in the United Kingdom.

A CFS spokesman said that Hong Kong has currently established a protocol with Russia for the import of poultry meat but not for poultry eggs. According to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 30 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Russia, and about 90 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 270,000 poultry eggs from France in the first three months of this year. In the first three months of this year, Hong Kong imported about 10 tonnes of chilled poultry meat and about 90,000 poultry eggs from the UK while no poultry meat or eggs were imported into Hong Kong from Canada.

​"The CFS has contacted the Russian and French 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 spokesperson said.