The food safety authority of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) decided on Tuesday to suspend import of poultry products from Tuaran District of Sabah State in Malaysia.

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) of the HKSAR government's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said the decision was made in view of a notification from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Tuaran District of Sabah State in Malaysia,

The CFS has instructed the trade to suspend import of poultry meat and products, including poultry eggs, from the district with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

A CFS spokesman said that Hong Kong imported about 100 tons of frozen poultry meat and 190 million poultry eggs from Malaysian in the first six months of this year.

The CFS has contacted the Malaysian 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. Enditem