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The Government announced today (September 14) the appointment of Professor Kwan Hoi-shan as the Chairman of the Expert Committee on Food Safety.
The appointment was made by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow. Professor Kwan will serve a term of two years with effect from tomorrow (September 15).
Professor Kwan is the Dean of the Faculty of Science and Professor of Biology of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is a well-established academic in food and nutritional science specialising in food science, food microbiology and molecular biotechnology.
A Government spokesman said, "The Committee is to advise the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene on food safety operational strategies and measures to protect public health, standards/guidelines relating to food safety and food composition and their suitable adoption in Hong Kong.
"The Committee also advises on the implementation of food safety risk communication and public education programmes as well as new directions for research to be commissioned by the Centre for Food Safety."
Welcoming the appointment, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr Eddy Chan, said that Professor Kwan's experience and expertise made him most suitable for the chairmanship of the committee.
Dr Chow also appointed the following members to the Expert Committee on Food Safety:
Dr Chan Pui-kwong
Professor Thomas Chan Yan-keung
Mr Colin KC Cheng
Mrs Jenny Fung Ma Kit-han
Mr Peter Johnston
Ms Connie Lau Yin-hing
Dr Lau Fei-lung
Dr Frederick Leung Chi-ching
Dr Lo King-shun
Dr Desmond K O'Toole
Professor Jonathan Wong Woon-chung
Dr Raymond Wong Sze-chung
Mr Simon Wong Ka-wo
Dr Carrie Willis
Representative of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department
Representative of the Department of Health
Apart from the above appointments, Dr Chow also appointed three experts from the Mainland and overseas as members of the committee. They are Dr Kan Xuegui from the Mainland, Dr Chua Sin-bin from Singapore and Dr Marion Joy Healy from Australia.
Educated on the Mainland, in Canada and the United Kingdom, Dr Kan Xuegui is a medical doctor by profession who specialises in infectious diseases, public health and public health management. He is a Consultant in the Bureau of Health Supervision of the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China.
Dr Chua Sin-bin is the Chief Executive Officer, Director-General and Chief Veterinary Officer of the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore.
Dr Marion Joy Healy is the Chief Scientist of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and has overall responsibility for the scientific work undertaken by FSANZ as well as for the organisation's input into the international regulatory framework such as Codex.
All members will serve a term of two years with effect from tomorrow (September 15).
Ends/Thursday, September 14, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:00
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