The Health, Welfare & Food Bureau is working jointly with Mainland authorities to impose stringent controls on registered poultry farms supplying chickens to Hong Kong to ensure the safety and quality.

The bureau said today the Mainland has in the past cut the number of registered farms from over 300 to over 100 to more effectively deploy resources to ensure farms are avian flu free. Enforcement has been stepped up and biosecurity measures are maintained to meet required standards.

The bureau said arrangements for the resumption of live poultry imports from the Mainland on March 26 have been considered satisfactory. The wholesale price of chickens since the resumption has remained stable.

The bureau is maintaining close contact with Mainland authorities to review the effectiveness of its work. Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Carrie Yau met with Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection & Quarantine Bureau Director-General Liu Shengli yesterday.

She will also meet with the head of the Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection & Quarantine Bureau Zhong Dechang in mid-April.

All parties responsible for gatekeeping work remain vigilant to ensure existing mechanisms to prevent avian flu are in place. The bureau said it will continue to implement human-poultry separation measures and ensure all Mainland-supplied poultry is safe for consumption.

The bureau said as Hong Kong is still in the peak influenza season and human infection cases of H5N1 have been found on the Mainland, the following measures are still in place:

* live poultry must come from registered farms are subject to inspection by both Mainland and Hong Kong officials;

* all live poultry must be quarantined for five days before export to Hong Kong;

* samples for laboratory tests will be taken from live poultry imported to Hong Kong at Man Kam To Control Point and Food & Environmental Hygiene Department staff will visit registered poultry farms on the Mainland; and,

* samples will also be taken for testing at wholesale and retail markets.