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Following is a transcript of the remarks made by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, at a media session after officiating at the opening ceremony of Public Health Laboratory Centre today (January 30):
Dr Yeoh: I just want to clarify that there is some confusion relating to the policy we announced this morning. On the basis of the number of chickens we now have in our retail and wholesale markets due to decreased demand after the Lunar New Year and the continuous supply both from our local farms and from the Guangdong Province, there is a large number of chickens now in both the retail and wholesale markets. This situation is not very desirable because the very crowded conditions in the markets will be detrimental to the health of the chickens and to the overall environment in the markets. So, we have asked the trade to temporarily suspend imports of chickens from the Guangdong Province and also to stop the release of chickens from our farms to markets, so there will be time for the market to absorb the current supply that we have in both the wholesale and retail markets. This is the current situation. Of course the trade has been very cooperative and they have told us that they were willing to suspend the imports from Guangdong Province. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department has also been speaking to the farmers that we will also not be releasing chickens into our markets.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion)
Ends/Friday, January 30, 2004
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