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Following is a question by the Hon James To and a reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (May 17):
Question:
The relevant authorities of Hong Kong and the Mainland reached an agreement in August last year, which stipulates that only registered farms approved by the Mainland authorities concerned are allowed to export freshwater fish to Hong Kong, and that every consignment of fishery products must be accompanied with a health certificate issued by the Mainland authorities concerned certifying that the products do not contain malachite green or any other harmful substances. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) freshwater fish without the relevant health certificate may be sold legally in Hong Kong after being tested and confirmed as not containing harmful substances by the authorities concerned; if so, of the reasons;
(b) it will consider introducing legislation to prohibit the import of such freshwater fish; if it will, of the legislation timetable, and what measures will be taken to prohibit the import of such freshwater fish before the legislative process is completed; and
(c) triad members are involved in the import of such freshwater fish; if so, of the measures in place to combat these activities?
Reply:
Madam President:
(a) The Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap 132) stipulates that all food sold in Hong Kong must be fit for human consumption. At present, there is no law that requires that imported freshwater fish must be accompanied by health certificates. Therefore, freshwater fish imported from the Mainland that has been confirmed to be free from harmful substances after tests can be sold in Hong Kong.
(b) The Government has already started to study ways to safeguard the safety of aquatic and fishery products (including freshwater fish) and is actively considering legislative amendments to further strengthen the regulation on aquatic and fishery products. We hope to submit our plan for a regulatory framework to the LegCo and consult the trade at the end of this year.
Before concluding the studies on regulating aquatic and fishery products, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) will work with the departments concerned, including Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), Customs and Excise Department and the Police to step up interdiction efforts at various points of entry to seize freshwater fish imported from Mainland that are not accompanied with health certificates. Samples would then be taken from these consignments for tests to ensure that no freshwater fish that fails to meet our hygiene standard would enter into Hong Kong. In case malachite green or other harmful substances are found in these freshwater fish, the FEHD would destroy the fish products and institute prosecution against the parties concerned. The AFCD has also strengthened the management of the Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Food Market (wholesale market), including increasing the number of security staff and requiring mandatory registration of all persons and vehicles entering the wholesale markets.
To deter people from unloading and distributing such freshwater fish at Cheung Sha Wan Wholesale Food Market, the enforcement officers of the departments concerned have already formed a special task force to conduct 24-hour patrols at the piers and vehicular loading areas of the wholesale market and Western Wholesale Food Market over the past few weeks. On the night of May 5, the task force intercepted a lorry of live freshwater fish that did not have health certificates on its entry into wholesale market and the consignment was held and tested by FEHD. Subsequently, one of the samples tested positive for trace amounts of malachite green (5 microgram per kilogram) and the whole consignment was destroyed.
(c) The Police do not rule out the possibility that some of the people involved in the import of freshwater fish without health certificates might have links with triad societies. The law enforcement departments will closely monitor such activities and step up intelligence gathering efforts to prevent such freshwater fish from entering into Hong Kong market illegally.
Ends/Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:48
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