Hong Kong suspends poultry meat import and poultry products from parts of Europe

4/10/2024 6:07

        Imports of poultry meat and poultry products have been suspended from parts of Hungary and Italy.
        
        The Center for Food Safety stated that in response to separate notifications from the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary and the World Organization for Animal Health regarding the outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in the region, the center has immediately instructed the industry to suspend all imports of poultry meat and products, including eggs, to protect public health in Hong Kong.
        
        Hong Kong currently only has an import mechanism for poultry meat with Hungary, but no poultry egg import mechanism. According to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 40 tons of refrigerated poultry meat from Hungary and about 40 tons of refrigerated poultry from Italy in the first six months of this year.
        
        The Center for Food Safety has contacted the Hungarian and Italian authorities regarding the incident, and will continue to closely monitor the World Organization for Animal Health and relevant authorities, issue information on the outbreak of avian influenza, and take appropriate actions in response to the development of the local epidemic.