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Following is a transcript (English portion) of remarks made by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, at a stand-up media session at the Legislative Council Building today (March 14):
Reporter: Dr Chow, can you also respond to protesters' action today?
Dr Chow: First of all, we understand their concern and we are also sympathetic to their feelings. However, I think we are facing a very important issue of public health safety in terms of the avian flu. We must ensure that the number of chickens in Hong Kong is under control and also be able to cope with any contingency in case of need. We will be meeting with the trade again and again, particularly after we have understood the situation in Guangdong a bit better by the end of the week. So we will be able to convince them. First of all, we would like to ensure that Hong Kong's environment is safe from avian flu but at the same time, we also want to allow the trade to continue as much as it can. But they must make some compromises in terms of the number of chickens to be imported.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:03
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