The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and Japanese authorities about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in the District of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany and highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in Nara Prefecture in Japan respectively, 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, in the first nine months of this year, Hong Kong imported about 2,500 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 880,000 poultry eggs from Germany; and about 50 tonnes of chilled poultry meat, about 4,300 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 200 million poultry eggs from Japan.

"The CFS has contacted the German and Japanese 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.