South Korea banned poultry imports from Britain and the Netherlands, which are being pestered by avian influenza, after imposing a ban on ducks and chickens from Germany, Seoul's agriculture ministry said Tuesday.

The import ban was imposed from Monday on all poultry products, including pet birds and farm animals from Britain and the Netherlands, where the highly-pathogenic bird flu was reported, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The ministry already banned imports of poultry products from Germany from Nov. 7 as bird flu was reported in the European country on Nov. 4.

The import ban was part of quarantine measures aimed at preventing the spread of avian flu in South Korea, the ministry said, noting that it had nothing to do with the safety of poultry products here.

The ministry asked potential visitors who travel to Europe to refrain from making contact with farm animals there and bringing any poultry from the affected countries.