The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of Hong Kong lifted its ban on importing eggs and egg-based products from four Vietnamese provinces after having imposed it for over four years, according to Vietnam’s animal health authorities.

The Hong Kong agency on Monday announced the removal of the ban for Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, and Dong Nai Provinces in southeastern Vietnam, Nguyen Van Long, director of the Department of Animal Health under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper the same day.

“From now on, businesses, farms, and breeders in these provinces can officially export eggs and egg-based products to Hong Kong, provided that every shipment obtains an export quarantine certificate from the health animal department required by the Hong Kong side,” Long said.

The ban, imposed by Hong Kong more than four years ago due to the impacts of the avian influenza epidemic in Vietnam, has been removed thanks to the animal health agency’s effective negotiations with Hong Kong agencies concerned on the basis of the achievements in bird flu control in the Southeast Asian country, the official explained.

Currently, avian influenza continues to be put under control nationwide, with only 14 small clusters recorded since early this year, resulting in a loss of 18,000 birds, a decrease of over 70 percent year on year, the director elaborated.

Notably, he added, the aforementioned four provinces have seen no bird flu occurrences so far this year.

Such encouraging results came from the good implementation of the national avian influenza prevention and control plan by functional agencies and local authorities, Long stated.

In cooperation with relevant international organizations, Vietnamese agencies have effectively monitored, warned against, and responded to any avian influenza outbreak, the official added. 

Before the ban, Hong Kong yearly spent tens of millions of U.S. dollars importing eggs and egg-based products from Vietnam, according to the animal health department.

Hong Kong now accounts for about 40-50 percent of the export value of Vietnam’s animal husbandry products. 

Over the first 6 months of this year, the export turnover of livestock products reached $232 million, up 26.5 percent from a year earlier, the department said.

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