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The Government will accept applications from tomorrow (July 15) from live poultry retailers to permanently surrender permission to sell live poultry on their Fresh Provision Shop licences or public market tenancies and receive relevant ex-gratia payments.
A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said today (July 14) that the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department would write to retailers tomorrow to explain the relevant arrangement and distribute application documents to them. The deadline for retailers to submit applications is July 24.
"The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department will also write to poultry farmers, wholesalers and transporters tomorrow, informing them that if a substantial majority (say around 85%) of the retailers have opted to leave the trade by the deadline, the Government would launch the ex-gratia payment scheme for farmers, wholesalers and transporters to apply on or before September 24," the spokesman said.
The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council today approved the bureau's funding application for $1.123 billion to implement the buyout scheme for the live poultry trade. Under the scheme, live poultry farmers, wholesalers, retailers, transporters and their workers may receive ex-gratia payments for leaving the trade.
Ends/Monday, July 14, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:45
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