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Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Gabriel Leung, in the Legislative Council today (April 28):
Question:
It has been reported that the wholesale price for live pigs on the Mainland has been dropping continuously and has recently reached its lowest since May of last year. The said price and the price for pork on the Mainland have dropped continuously for twelve and eleven weeks, which are respectively 12.6% and 9.8% lower when compared with the prices of the same period last year. The National Development and Reform Commission further anticipates that the price for pork on the Mainland will drop continuously until after the Mid-Autumn Festival in September this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the average monthly wholesale, import and retail prices for fresh and chilled pork imported from the Mainland since January 2009, and the changes in these prices; of the difference in the retail prices for fresh and chilled pork; and
(b) whether there has been a corresponding drop in the wholesale, import and retail prices for fresh and chilled pork imported from the Mainland as a result of the continuous drop in price for pigs on the Mainland since January 2009; if not, whether the authorities have looked into the reasons involved, and proactively investigated why the drop in the price for pigs on the Mainland has not been reflected in the local wholesale, import and retail prices for pork; whether they have uncovered situations of market practitioners boosting up prices; and what measures the authorities have taken to urge retailers, etc. to lower the price for pork expeditiously, and to prevent market practitioners from profiteering through price-boosting, so as to enable the public to buy pork at a reasonable price that reflects the cost?
Reply:
President,
(a) The wholesale price of live pigs (that is, the price of live pigs paid by live pig buyers to live pig import agents) and the retail price of fresh pork from January 2009 to the present are shown in Annex 1. However, it has to be noted that wholesale price of live pigs is not equal to wholesale price of fresh lean pork. The weight of a live pig includes not only the weight of the pork, but also the weight of the head, bones, skin and offal.
The Government does not compile statistics on the wholesale price of chilled pork. We can hence only work out the import price of chilled pork based on the information on the import quantities and value of chilled pork declared for customs purpose.
The import and retail prices of chilled pork from January 2009 to the present are shown in Annex 2.
Difference in the retail prices of fresh and chilled pork is shown in Annex 3.
(b) As shown by the price information, the price of pork has been adjusted downward to a certain extent since January 2009. The average wholesale prices of live pigs and retail prices of fresh lean pork have gone down considerably when compared with that in January 2009. Both prices also registered similar extent of adjustment in recent months. According to the figures in March this year, the average wholesale price of live pigs was $10.1/catty, a drop of some 9% when compared with the wholesale price of $11.1/catty in January 2009; whereas the retail price was $33.1/catty, a drop of some 8% when compared with the retail price of $36.1/catty in January 2009.
The retail price of chilled pork showed a higher degree of adjustment. The retail price was $22.1/catty in March this year, a drop of some 15% when compared with the retail price of $26/catty in January 2009.
The difference in the retail prices of fresh and chilled pork has remained stable since January 2009.
We have approached the trade (including live pig import agents, buyers and pork retailers) to find out more about the composition of the pork price. The trade explained that in addition to the purchase price, other operational costs such as transport cost, workers wages and rental have to be considered in fixing the price of pork.
Supply of live pigs for public consumption mainly comes from the Mainland (the rest is supplied by local farms). To maintain a stable supply, the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) has all along liaised closely with the relevant Mainland authorities and live pig import agents. In July 2007, the FHB and the State Ministry of Commerce agreed after discussion that market for supplying live pig to Hong Kong should be opened up for healthy competition. Subsequently, the number of agents for supplying Mainland live pigs to Hong Kong increased from one to three in October 2007.
To maintain a stable supply of food and provide consumers more choices, the Government also encourages the trade to explore different sources of food supply. In August 2006, the trade started importing chilled pork from the Mainland to give the public an additional choice. The consumption of chilled pork increased from around 4,600 tonnes in 2006 to around 16,700 tonnes in 2009.
The policy objective of the Government is to maintain a stable supply of various foodstuffs and ensure food safety. Food price has always been determined by the free market. It is the Government's responsibility to improve market transparency and enhance market efficiency so as to help consumers make a wise choice.
We have introduced measures to improve the flow of market information. Starting from mid-January 2008, we have made public on a daily basis the quantity and auction price of live pigs arriving at the slaughterhouse on the day and the estimated number of live pigs to arrive at the slaughterhouse on the following day. This enables the live pig buyers, retailers and the public to have a clear picture about the supply of live pigs.
As for retail prices, the Consumer Council now releases information on prices of various fresh food items at wet markets (amongst which include the retail prices of fresh pork) on a daily basis for public reference with a view to enhancing transparency in food prices.
Ends/Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:18
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