KIEV, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has banned imports of poultry products from Ukraine after the country reported a case of bird flu, Ukraine's State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection said on Tuesday in a statement.
Besides, China's Hong Kong has halted imports of edible eggs from Ukraine's southern Kherson region, where the virus had been found, the statement said.
The State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection said it has sent an appeal to the EU to adopt a regionalized approach to its ban and allow imports of poultry from Ukrainian regions, which are free from the virus.
Last week, a highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected in a private poultry farm in Kherson region, which marked the first bird flu case in Ukraine in eight years.
EU is a key market for Ukraine's poultry products, accounting for some 16 percent of the total poultry exports.
From January through October of 2016, Ukraine's poultry exports rose 46 percent year-on-year to 199,800 tons.
