Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced yesterday that in light of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in regions in Russia and the UK, poultry imports have been suspended. 

Poultry meat and products, including poultry eggs, from Vologda Oblast in Russia, and Folkestone and Hythe District of Kent County in the UK. The suspension was issued to protect public health in Hong Kong.

A CFS spokesperson 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 50 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Russia, and about 400 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 180 000 poultry eggs from the UK in the first six months of this year.

"The CFS has contacted the Russian and British 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.