At the end of July 2023 the Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong released an annoucement stating that outbreaks of avian influenza of the H5/H5N1 subtype had been detected in the Vologda Oblast in Russia, in the cities of Folkestone and Hythe in Kent, UK and in the Freveland region in the Netherlands. For that reason the import of poultry meat and products from mentioned regions was suspended by the authorities.

In the first six months of this year, Hong Kong imported about 50 tons of frozen poultry meat from Russia and about 400 tons of chilled and frozen poultry meat from the United Kingdom, as well as about 50 tons of frozen poultry meat from the Netherlands.