October 15, 2009

Hong Kong's food safety authorities announced Wednesday (Oct 14) the city has suspended the processing of applications for importing poultry products from Spain with immediate effect.

 

According to a spokesman for Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety, the decision was taken following confirmation of a case involving the highly pathogenic avian influenza H7 virus on a poultry farm in the central Spanish region of Castilla-La Mancha. He added that the agency is seeking further information about the case from relevant authorities.

 

For the first seven months of this year, Hong Kong imported about 300 tonnes of frozen poultry and poultry products from Spain.