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Following is the speaking note of Ms Elaine Chung Lai-kwok, Director of Urban Services, at the "Healthy Living into the 21st Century" press conference today (Friday), December 11, 1998.

Currently, there are over 8,000 licensed restaurants in the whole of Hong Kong. There has been concern over the cleanliness and hygiene conditions of restaurants in Hong Kong. In addition to health education supplemented by enforcement actions by the Municipal Services Departments, the Clean Markets and Food Premises Sub-Committee (the Sub-Committee) chaired by me has been considering measures on how to effect improvements to hygiene conditions in restaurants within the existing licensing framework.

The Steering Committee on Healthy Living today endorsed a proposal to introduce an open classification system for grading licensed restaurants according to their hygiene conditions. The argument for adopting a grading system is to enable the public to know the assessed hygiene standard of the restaurant which they intend to patronize. Such a system would also provide an incentive for the restaurant owners to upgrade the hygiene conditions of their restaurants.

Representatives of the restaurant trades have expressed concern over the impact of the system on the business prospects of those restaurants which could not achieve the "top" grade, particularly under the present depressed economic climate. Accordingly, the Sub-Committee considered it more appropriate to introduce a phased approach to implement this system. Under this approach, the first phase which is entirely voluntary, would be a two-tier system, i.e. an excellent grading for restaurants under top hygiene conditions, with no grading at this stage for other licensed restaurants meeting "normal" hygiene conditions. Restaurants with excellent hygiene conditions would be awarded a certificate for display. Depending on the public response to the first phase of the system, the second and final phase of the scheme would aim to provide different gradings for different categories of hygiene conditions. It is for consideration whether in due course the system and display of certificates should be incorporated into the licensing framework.

The Sub-Committee has since drawn up broad directions for the first phase as set out below as the basis for its further deliberations:

* a set of objective criteria to be established for grading a

restaurant, e.g. factors such as overall cleanliness,

personal hygiene and food hygiene, with the trade to be

consulted.

* a fair assessment method to be agreed.

* other logistics to be decided e.g. the design of the

certificate, the mode of display, etc.

The Urban Services Department will present detailed proposals to the Provisional Urban Council in January 1999 for implementation of the first phase of the proposed system.

HYGIENE OFFICER SCHEME

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Under the Food Business (Urban Council) Bylaws, the responsibility for the maintenance of hygiene conditions of restaurants rests on the operators. It is the primary responsibility of the operators to ensure that their employees observe safe food handling practices at all times. At present, the licensing conditions of restaurants require, among other things, that the operators (licensees or the appointed managers) attend training courses on basic food hygiene before they can have their licences renewed. We encourage the operators, after attending the training courses, to conduct in-house training for their own staff, although the operator is not obliged to do so, and there is no power at present to make such in-house training mandatory. Furthermore, with the high staff turnover in the trade and in view of the keen competition within the trade, there is normally little incentive for most food handlers to devote personal time and effort to acquire knowledge of hygiene practices. Hence, frontline staff in restaurants may not always have sufficient understanding of the risks involved in food preparation and the ways of reducing these risks. The introduction of a "Hygiene Officer" Scheme is to enhance hygiene conditions in restaurants.

The primary role of the "Hygiene Officer" is to be responsible for providing in-house training for his/her staff, to systematically identify key areas of risk and thus take appropriate remedial action as soon as possible and to act as the focal point of contact with the two Municipal Services Departments for speedy dissemination of information on hygiene matters. Such dedicated hygiene officers will be expected to help improve and upkeep hygiene standards throughout the operating hours of the restaurants. In this context, we are also considering whether to make it a requirement that the name of the Hygiene Officer be displayed in the restaurant so as to provide a focal point for complaints by patrons regarding conditions in the premises.

At present, the burden of training rests primarily with the two Municipal Services Departments which have only limited training resources. The Urban Services Department has contacted six academic institutions and vocational training centres to enlist their assistance in conducting such training courses. We have so far received very positive response from them.

Details on the categorisation of licensed restaurants and the Hygiene Officer Scheme will be submitted to the two Municipal Councils for discussion.

End/Friday, December 11, 1998

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