BEIJING  - China has banned the imports of poultry products from the Zeeland province of the Netherlands where an outbreak of H7N1 bird flu virus was reported on March 22, China's quarantine watchdog said.

Any poultry and poultry products by mail or carried by tourists from the Netherlands will be returned or destroyed, officials from China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Ministry of Agriculture said in a joint statement posted on the government's website (www.gov.cn) Sunday.

Poultry and poultry products, if found from the European country on ships, flights or trains that stop in China, will be sealed, the statement said.

The imports ban came into effect beginning Saturday, it said.