Hong Kong suspends poultry imports from US regions
Imports from regions in Minnesota and Colorado listedHong Kong's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced on Monday that imports of poultry meat and products, including eggs, have been suspended for certain regions in the United States.
The suspension was announced in light of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and includes imports from Renville County in Minnesota and Weld County in Colorado. CFS said its reason for doing so was to protect public health in Hong Kong.
A CFS spokesperson said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 16,480 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 7.73 million poultry eggs from the US in the first three months of this year.
"The CFS has contacted the American authority over the issue 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.