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

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 is in view of a notification from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in Uckermark District of the State of Brandenburg in Germany, and an notification from the Swedish Board of Agriculture about an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Moensteras municipality, Kalmar county.

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The CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products, including poultry eggs, from Germany's Uckermark district and Sweden's Oskarshamn municipality, which is adjacent to Moensteras municipality, with immediate effect in order to protect public health in Hong Kong.