HONG KONG - Hong Kong's food safety authority decided on Wednesday to suspend the import of poultry meat and products from bird flu-affected areas in Japan and France.

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said that this was in view of a notification from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan, and from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in Ardennes Department in France.

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