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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Sing-chi and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (June 30):
Question:
Since the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) took over the management of public markets in 2000 upon its establishment, it had continued to adopt the versions of tenancy agreements used by the two former Provisional Municipal Councils until May 2009, despite their considerable discrepancies. During the period, new tenancy clauses and conditions had been introduced by FEHD and conveyed to tenants through letters for compliance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the year in which FEHD added new tenancy clauses and conditions to public market tenancy agreements since it took over the management of public markets, as well as the specific clauses and conditions added on each occasion; and
(b) whether the tenants, District Councils and the Legislative Council had been widely consulted before such new tenancy clauses and conditions were conveyed to tenants through letters; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Since the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) was established in 2000 and took over the management of public markets, it has continued to adopt different versions of tenancy agreements used by the two former Provisional Municipal Councils. There are considerable discrepancies between the contents of the tenancy agreements. Since then, due to various practical needs, the majority of which were to protect public health and food safety as well as consideration about public safety, the FEHD has added new tenancy clauses and conditions. Examples include a series of measures to prevent avian influenza, restriction on the height of stalls for fire safety consideration, introduction of a monthly "cleansing day" after the "atypical pneumonia" in 2003, regulations on the source of seawater of fish stalls for public health concerns. Relevant clauses and conditions have been introduced for compliance by tenants and conveyed to them through letters.
In 2008, the Audit Commission reviewed the management of public markets and recommended that the FEHD should enter into new tenancy agreements with market tenants instead of repeatedly extending their existing tenancies. To follow up with the Audit Commission's recommendations and to facilitate tenants' understanding of the contents of the tenancy agreement, the FEHD has aligned the different versions of public market tenancy agreements in use, and clearly set out the new clauses and conditions mentioned above in a new tenancy agreement template. Last year, the FEHD conducted an extensive consultation exercise regarding the drafting of a new aligned tenancy agreement template. 49 district consultation sessions were organised and views from 77 Market Management Consultative Committees (MMCCs) and 44 market trader organisations were solicited. Taking into account the views collected, the FEHD has revised the new tenancy agreement template twice to make the contents of the agreement more comprehensible to tenants.
Our reply to the two parts of the question is as follows:
(a) Since the establishment of the FEHD in 2000, seven new tenancy clauses and conditions have been introduced for compliance by all tenants of public markets and conveyed to them through letters. In addition, some additional tenancy clauses which are applicable only to stalls selling specific food items (i.e. fresh or frozen fish, meat and poultry) were also introduced. Details are at Annex.
(b) In the past, prior to the FEHD's introduction of additional clauses to public market tenancy agreement, the Administration will, depending on the content of the additional clauses, consult the Legislative Council Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene or the MMCCs if public health, food safety, legislative amendments and market management issues are involved. The MMCCs comprise representatives of tenants from various types of market stalls and local District Council members, etc.
Ends/Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:41
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