Hong Kong suspends import of poultry products from Vietnamese province over bird flu outbreak

HONG KONG - The food safety authority of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) decided on Tuesday to suspend the import of poultry products from a province of Vietnam due to a bird flu outbreak there.

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) of the HKSAR government's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said that in view of a notification from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza in Ben Tre Province in Vietnam, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products, including poultry eggs, from the province with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

A CFS spokesman said that Hong Kong has established a protocol with Vietnam for import of poultry eggs but not for poultry meat.

In the first six months of this year, no poultry eggs from Vietnam were imported into Hong Kong, according to the HKSAR government's Census and Statistics Department.

"The CFS has contacted the Vietnamese authorities over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE on avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.