HONG KONG - Hong Kong's food safety authority decided on Thursday to suspend the import of poultry meat and products from bird flu-affected area in Germany.

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said that the decision was made in view of a notification from the World Organization for Animal Health about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in the District of Emsland in the State of Niedersachsen in Germany.

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.