Press Releases

Live chicken imports to increase for Winter Solstice

The daily ceiling of live chicken imports from the Mainland would be temporarily increased to meet a surge in demand for live chickens with the advent of Winter Solstice, a spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said today (December 11).

The ceiling will be increased from 20,000 to 30,000 chickens on Friday and Saturday (December 14 and 15). The live chicken import ceiling will further go up to 50,000 chickens daily from December 16-20. The additional live chickens will be available at retail markets from December 15 to 21, the seven days preceding the Winter Solstice.

The number of chickens to be imported will be scaled back to the daily limit of 20,000 on December 21.

The spokesman said, "We came to the decision after taking into consideration the views of the live poultry trade and legislators, assessing public demand for live chickens prior to the Winter Solstice and balancing the risk of avian influenza, including two recent cases of little egrets found in Tuen Mun Park tested positive of H5N1."

"Similar arrangements were made last year. We have already considered the testing capability of the relevant departments."

The spokesman stressed that, in accordance with the consensus reached by the Government and live poultry trade, traders would strictly abide by public health regulations and ensure no overstocking of live chickens in the wholesale markets and retail outlets.

"Should an avian influenza infection be found in human or poultry in Guangdong or Hong Kong before or during this period, the Government will immediately suspend the arrangement to increase live chicken imports," he said.

The Government will as always closely monitor the situation at the wholesale market and retail outlets during this period when live chicken imports are increased, the spokesman said.

Relevant government departments, including the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Customs and Excise Department and the Police, will continue to work closely with their Mainland counterparts to deter illegal import of poultry and birds from coming to Hong Kong. The move can guard against an increase in the risk of an avian influenza outbreak brought by poultry and birds that have not passed inspection and quarantine.


Ends/Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:10

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