The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Tuesday suspended beef imports from a California processor that violated an imports rule aimed to curb the risk of spreading mad cow disease.

The HKSAR Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced a ban on beef imports from Harris Ranch Beef Company, a processing plant in California, following the discovery of bones in the imports from the plant.

The department said it will contact the relevant authorities for more information concerning the imports in question.

Hong Kong resumed beef imports from the United States on December 29, 2005, but only boneless beef from cattle of less than 30 months old were allowed to be imported. The imported beef has to be of cattle removed of high-risk materials such as brain and spinal cord during slaughtering.

The agreed protocol also stipulated that the beef can be imported from designated plants approved by the US authorities.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2006)