Hong Kong suspends poultry imports from four US counties and the Isle of Lewis

Hong Kong suspended poultry and egg imports from four US counties and from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland after avian influenza notifications, a reminder that highly pathogenic avian influenza is still reshaping who can ship to which market.

Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) announced the suspension on 5 October 2026, effective immediately. The measure covers poultry meat and poultry products, including eggs, from Big Stone and Kandiyohi counties in Minnesota, Ravalli County in Montana and Barron County in Wisconsin, following World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) notifications of highly pathogenic H5N1 outbreaks. A separate suspension applies to the Isle of Lewis in Scotland after the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs notified a highly pathogenic H5N5 outbreak.

The volumes at stake show how much the territory depends on imports. Hong Kong imported about 24,190 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 20.2 million poultry eggs from the United States in the first six months of 2026, and about 340 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat from the UK over the same period, according to the Census and Statistics Department. The CFS said it has contacted both authorities and will keep monitoring WOAH information.

• What is suspended: poultry meat, poultry products and eggs from the four named US counties and from the Isle of Lewis, Scotland.
• Trigger: WOAH notifications of H5N1 in Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin, and an H5N5 notification from the UK.
• Exposure: about 24,190 tonnes of US chilled and frozen poultry meat plus about 20.2 million US eggs in the first half of 2026.
• Pattern: restrictions are applied on a regional - not national - basis, so unaffected counties and approved zones can keep shipping.
• Practical effect: importers must re-source quickly and check that plant approvals, certificates and production dates support the region of origin.

Regionalised restrictions cut both ways. They keep trade open for suppliers in recognised disease-free zones, but they demand paperwork that stands up at the border: a plant registered for the destination market, a halal certificate, a veterinary health certificate naming the correct production area, and a certificate of origin that matches the goods. Consignments that cannot evidence the production region are the first to be held.

Nau International Food Group supplies halal frozen poultry and frozen meat from HACCP-certified, GACC-registered plants, with halal certificates, veterinary health certificates and certificates of origin issued for each shipment. We arrange customs clearance and delivery into Dubai and onward distribution across the Gulf, Africa and Central Asia. For specifications, packing data and current offers, write to info@naufoodgroup.com.

Source: Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety suspension notice of 5 October 2026, reported by The Poultry Site on 7 October 2026; WOAH outbreak notifications.