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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Li Kwok-ying on enforcement against foodstuff smuggling activities in the Legislative Council today (October 17):
Question:
It has been reported that the prices of mainland foodstuffs imported into Hong Kong have recently risen by 5% to 100%, prompting law breakers to take risks and smuggle foodstuffs into the territory. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the amount and value of the smuggled foodstuffs seized in the past three years by the Government in anti-smuggling operations, together with a breakdown by the types of the foodstuffs involved;
(b) whether the Customs and Excise Department has correspondingly stepped up its anti-smuggling operations in this respect (including cooperation with the relevant mainland authorities); if so, of the details; and
(c) given that many of the smuggled foodstuffs are from unknown sources and have not undergone inspections and tests, apart from the measures mentioned by the Government at the meetings of the Council's Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene on June 12 and July 10 this year, whether the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will adopt other measures to strengthen the work on food safety inspections and tests so as to safeguard public health; if so, of the details?
Reply:
Madam President,
Regarding the Hon Li Kwok-ying's enquiry, the reply of the Security Bureau in consultation with the Food and Health Bureau is as follows:
(a) The amount and value of smuggled foodstuffs seized by the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) in the past three years (from July 2004 to June 2007) are set out at the Annex.
(b) C&ED exchanges intelligence and conducts joint operations with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the relevant Mainland law enforcement agencies from time to time with the objective of stepping up enforcement against foodstuff smuggling activities so as to safeguard public health. In addition, since mid-September 2007, C&ED has launched a special operation to enhance enforcement against smuggling of live birds and poultry in a more targeted manner. As at October 10, 2007, a total of 610 kg of live birds and poultry for human consumption had been seized.
(c) Under the routine food surveillance programme, FEHD has been testing food samples taken at import, wholesale and retail levels to ensure that food sold in Hong Kong is safe and fit for human consumption. Beside routine surveillance, FEHD also carries out targeted food surveillance and seasonal food surveillance at various times of the year to further enhance surveillance on individual food items or hazard (e.g., heavy metals, food additives and pathogens). This facilitates the Government and the public to take more effective preventive measures.
In addition, FEHD regularly publicises food surveillance results. From January to August 2007, FEHD tested about 38,000 food samples taken at various levels. The results showed that the overall satisfactory rate was 99.5%. As for import control, FEHD has recently stepped up joint operations with C&ED to intercept travellers illegally bringing meat or poultry into Hong Kong at Lo Wu Control Point, Shenzhen Bay Control Point and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point.
Ends/Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:01
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