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Following is a question by the Hon Li Kwok-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (November 29):
Question:
It has been reported that some eggs from the provinces of Hebei and Hubei in the Mainland have been found to contain the carcinogenic Sudan IV, a dye for industrial uses, and it is suspected that these eggs are also on sale in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the immediate and long-term measures to prevent the importation of eggs containing carcinogenic substances into Hong Kong;
(b) whether currently there is legislation to regulate the eggs imported into Hong Kong for human consumption; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider introducing legislation for that purpose; and whether there is an inspection system for imported eggs; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider establishing such an inspection system to regulate the quality of imported eggs; and
(c) how the mechanism for notification between the inspection and quarantine authorities in Hong Kong and the Mainland has operated during the above incident, and whether they have evaluated the operation of the mechanism to ascertain if it needs improvement; if they have, of the evaluation results?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) has always taken egg samples from the market for laboratory tests. Of the 740 or so egg samples collected for tests on colouring matter as well as other various tests from January 2005 to September 2006, no prohibited colouring matter was found.
Under the regular Food Surveillance Programme, CFS monitors food at the import, wholesale and retail levels. The main objective of the Programme is to ensure that the food sold in Hong Kong is fit for human consumption and complies with the requirements of the law. Besides, CFS maintains close liaison with overseas food safety authorities as well as the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) of the Mainland. In case of a food incident, appropriate follow-up actions will be taken immediately, including making enquires to the relevant authorities about details of the incident and whether the problematic food has been exported to Hong Kong. To safeguard public health and food safety, major local importers and retailers will also be contacted to ascertain that the problematic food is not sold in Hong Kong.
For the long term, we are reviewing the existing legislation with a view to making amendments to strengthen control on the import and distribution of eggs and their products.
We have deliberated and reached a consensus with the AQSIQ to adopt the following regulatory measures to strengthen control on egg at source:
(i) by end 2006, AQSIQ will post on its website details of all listed egg farms and their corresponding processing companies, both registered and listed, to enable Hong Kong importers of fresh eggs and egg products to make direct contact for purchases. Export of egg and egg products from unpublished egg farms and processing companies will not be allowed.
(ii) starting January 2007, AQSIQ will issue health certificates for eggs and egg products supplied to Hong Kong.
(b) At present, eggs imported into Hong Kong must comply with the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap 132) and its subsidiary legislation, including the ban on addition of prohibited colouring matter. The Government is actively considering a regulatory mechanism for imported eggs. We will expedite the necessary work and, after consultation with the trade, submit a proposal to the Legislative Council for discussion.
(c) The notification mechanism between the Administration and the inspection and quarantine authorities of the Mainland has worked well. In this incident of Sudan dyes found in eggs of ducks and hens, CFS has maintained close liaison with the relevant Mainland authorities and received prompt replies under the mechanism, which facilitated it to take appropriate follow-up actions.
Moreover, the notification mechanism between the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau and the Guangdong Food and Drug Administration (GDFDA) also worked smoothly. Upon our enquiries, GDFDA immediately approached the relevant authorities in the province to look into the situation and reverted to us within one to two days.
Ends/Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Issued at HKT 13:05
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