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Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Leung and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (October 22):
Question:
In connection with laboratory tests on the presence of melamine in food products, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the number of laboratories in Hong Kong which are capable of conducting laboratory tests on the level of melamine in food products and the maximum number of food samples that they can test per week;
(b) as according to existing legislation, the manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers concerned may be held criminally liable if the concentration of melamine in food products is found to exceed the maximum statutory limit, whether the Government has assessed if the said laboratories can meet the demand for their service in conducting laboratory tests for each consignment of food products; if they cannot, whether the authorities concerned have measures to assist the trade so as to ensure that the supply of food in the market will not be affected; and
(c) as a government official pointed out at the briefing for the trade held by the Centre for Food Safety on the sixth of this month that there was room for and possibility of further tightening the regulation on the concentration of melamine in food, whether the Government has presently set a timetable for further tightening such regulation?
Reply:
President,
(a) We understand that seven local private laboratories are already offering testing services to the trade on melamine in food. It is estimated that testing on several tens of samples can be completed by each laboratory per day on average. We believe that if more business opportunities are available, these laboratories will consider providing additional manpower and equipment to further enhance their testing capacity.
(b) Apart from the seven private laboratories mentioned above, it is noted that some other six private laboratories are also interested in providing such testing service and are making the necessary preparations. It is anticipated that they will be able to provide such testing service in the coming months. As pointed out by food traders, the trade and the retailers do not have any difficulties in engaging private laboratories for melamine testing.
The trade must ensure that the food supplied is in compliance with the legislative requirement. In addition to conducting tests by the trade, we have also proactively partnered with the trade to tackle the current melamine issue. We consider strengthening control at source an important step in handling the melamine issue at this stage. As such, we will devote more resources to the surveillance programme to cover testing of Mainland raw materials commonly used in local food products. To further enhance our capability to address the problem at source, and to deploy our resources in a more efficient manner, we have secured the support of various food trade associations in appealling to their members to provide us with information/samples on Mainland dairy raw materials that are commonly used in local food products. We have contacted the representatives of relevant trade associations. They have all agreed that our proposal can help address the problem at source and promised to appeal to their members to fully cooperate with the Administration. We believe that our proposal will not only enhance the efficiency of surveillance, but will help traders to choose suitable raw materials.
(c) In setting the standard for melamine in food, we have made reference to the risk assessment results and taken into account the possible presence of trace melamine in food due to environmental contamination or migration during food production process. In fact, our legal limit of melamine is well in line with, if not more stringent than, the standards set by other overseas food safety authorities. We will continue to keep abreast of the international developments and the latest scientific evidence and review the current melamine standards from time to time.
Ends/Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:19
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