HONG KONG - The food safety authority of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) decided on Monday to suspend import of poultry products from Chungcheongbuk-do province in north central of South Korea.

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) of the HKSAR government's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said the decision was made in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza in Chungcheongbuk-do.

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

A CFS spokesman said that Hong Kong imported about 255 tons of frozen and chilled poultry meat and 810,000 poultry eggs from South Korea last year.

The CFS has contacted the authorities of South Korea over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE on avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation, the spokesman said.