HONG KONG, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The food safety authority of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) announced on Friday to suspend the import of poultry products from a province of Chile.
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 low pathogenic H7 avian influenza in Quillota Province of Chile, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products, including poultry eggs, from the area with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.
A CFS spokesman said that Hong Kong has currently established a protocol with Chile for import of poultry meat but not for poultry eggs.
In the first six months of this year, Hong Kong imported about 1,700 tons of frozen poultry meat from Chile, according to the HKSAR government's Census and Statistics Department.
"The CFS has contacted the Chilean 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.
