Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety (CFS) under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced December 12, 2025, the suspension of poultry meat and poultry product imports, including eggs, from affected regions in France, South Korea and Japan following confirmed outbreaks of avian influenza.
A CFS spokesperson said that, based on data from the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported significant volumes of poultry products from the affected countries during the first nine months of 2025. Imports from France totalled approximately 830 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and around 50,000 poultry eggs. From South Korea, Hong Kong imported about 350 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and approximately 26.14 million poultry eggs, while imports from Japan included roughly 1,540 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and around 219.73 million poultry eggs.
The CFS has contacted the relevant authorities in France, South Korea and Japan to obtain further information on the outbreaks and will continue to closely monitor updates issued by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and national authorities. The department noted that further control measures will be implemented as necessary, depending on developments in the situation.
In a similar move toward the end of November, Hong Kong’s food safety authorities suspended imports of poultry meat and related products from multiple European countries. Affected regions include areas in Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Germany. According to official statistics, Hong Kong imported approximately 20 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Ireland during the first nine months of the year.
Poultry meat prices across Europe have already come under pressure as farmers accelerated slaughtering schedules in response to avian influenza risks. Market participants suggest that Hong Kong’s import suspensions could further increase domestic supply within Europe, exacerbating the current downward price trend. Reflecting this sentiment, the Expana Benchmark Price for chicken breast in Poland fell by 8.99% month-over-month (m-o-m) and 8.37% year-over-year (y-o-y) to €4.05/kg in the week ending December 17.
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Written by Rutika Ghodekar
