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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting this Wednesday (May 18) at 11am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on alleviating the impact of food price inflation on the public.
The motion, to be moved by Hon Wong Yung-kan, states: "That, given that the majority of foods in Hong Kong rely on import, and due to the impact of factors such as global fluctuations in food prices and Renminbi appreciation, etc., the local food prices have remained persistently high; besides, given Mainland residents' trust in foods which are sold in Hong Kong, particularly after the occurrence of melamine-tainted formula incidents involving Mainland milk products, their demand for infant and follow-up formulas which are sold in Hong Kong has soared, leading to an upsurge in the prices and shortage of stocks; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to adopt effective measures to alleviate the impact of food price inflation on the public; the relevant measures should include:
(a) to conduct studies on bringing infant and follow-up formulas within the regulatory ambit of the Reserved Commodities Ordinance to ensure their stable supply and enable the Government to effectively monitor their stocks, and to formulate jointly with suppliers a code of sales for the industry as soon as possible, so as to ensure the supply of milk formulas to local users;
(b) to rebuild the local agriculture and fisheries industry, so as to supplement food supply in Hong Kong;
(c) to assist local food importers and food establishments, etc., in identifying a wider variety of food materials and expanding the sources of supply, so as to diversify the risks of unstable food supply from individual places;
(d) to enhance the tests on Mainland and Japanese foods, and to actively seek to establish closer co-operation with the Mainland Government and the Japanese Government on food safety matters, so as to restore public confidence and increase the quantity of safe foods available on the market;
(e) to formulate a policy on rental and facility improvement which is conducive to the development of public markets to enhance their competitiveness, so as to meet the function of supplying fresh provisions to the general public;
(f) to further increase the transparency of essential food supply and price information, with a view to facilitating the dissemination of market information and preventing stockpiling and hoarding by unscrupulous traders; and
(g) to relax the eligibility requirements for short-term food assistance service projects and the period of receiving assistance, and to conduct studies on providing support to the grassroots through the Community Care Fund, etc., in coping with the food price inflation problem."
Hon Wong Kwok-hing, Hon Ip Wai-ming, Dr Hon Pan Pey-chyou, Hon Vincent Fang and Hon Ronny Tong will move separate amendments to Hon Wong Yung-kan's motion.
Members will debate another motion on the June 4 incident. The motion, to be moved by Hon Lee Cheuk-yan, says: "That this Council urges that: the June 4 incident be not forgotten and the 1989 pro-democracy movement be vindicated."
Hon Albert Ho will move an amendment to Hon Lee Cheuk-yan's motion.
In addition, Hon Miriam Lau will move a motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure. The motion states: "That this Council takes note of Report No. 22/10-11 of the House Committee laid on the table of the Council on May 18, 2011 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:
(1) Declaration of Constituencies (District Councils) Order 2011; and
(2) Fisheries Protection (Specification of Apparatus) (Amendment) Notice 2011."
During the meeting, Members will also ask the Administration 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo InfoFax Service (Tel: 2869 9568) or the LegCo website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found in the LegCo website.
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the LegCo Chamber. They may reserve seats by calling 2869 9399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also listen to the meeting via the web broadcast system on the LegCo website.
Ends/Monday, May 16, 2011
Issued at HKT 16:43
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