December 4, 2013
Hong Kong restricts import of poultry products from Netherlands
Hong Kong has banned the import of poultry and poultry products, including poultry eggs, from the Province of Groningen in the Netherlands with immediate effect for the protection of Hong Kong's public and animal health.
This was announced by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department on Tuesday (Dec 3) in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of low-pathogenic H5 avian influenza.
A CFS spokesman said that from January to October this year, about 14,000 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and 13 million poultry eggs were imported into Hong Kong from the Netherlands.
Import bans on the same items from three other Provinces in the Netherlands, namely Flevoland, Utrecht and Friesland, have been in effect since March this year and are still in force, he added.
The CFS has contacted the Netherlands authorities over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE on the avian influenza outbreaks in the country. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation.