China has decided to suspend imports of poultry and related products from Canada, which has reported a suspected bird flu outbreak, according to the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine reaching Sunday.

All birds which have been transported to China from Canada and are waiting for quarantine inspection will be returned or destroyed, and those that have been inspected will have to undergo further testing for the bird flu virus, the administration said in a circular distributed across the country.

The circular also forbids transporting birds into the country by post or with passengers.

Birds from Canada will be sealed off if they are found on international ships, airplanes and trains that pass China. All the birds found smuggled from Canada will be destroyed by quarantine authorities.

On Feb. 19, the health department in Canada reported a suspected H7 bird flu case in a chicken farm in the western part of the country.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2004)