July 4, 2006

Hong Kong to resume live poultry imports

The import of live poultry, day-old chicks and pet birds from Guangdong to Hong Kong would resume Thursday (Jul 6), the Health, Welfare & Food Bureau said.

The Bureau said it had made the decision after reviewing the health situation in the province. The fact that no new human case has been found and no outbreak of bird flu has been reported in farms in Guangdong for the past weeks was an important factor in restarting imports, the Bureau said.

However, Hong Kong experts and veterinarians would inspect hygiene conditions of live poultry and breeder chicken farms in Guangdong and Shenzhen which supply Hong Kong.

The ceiling of live chicken imports would continue to be capped at 20,000 a day and an average of 20,000 day-old chicks can be imported to Hong Kong daily.

Markets would also observe a rest day each month for thorough cleaning and disinfection.