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The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) today (February 7) released a consultation document on the proposed amendments to the Import and Export (General) Regulations (Cap. 60, sub. leg. A) (the Regulations), with a view to combating the problem of parallel traders diverting large quantities of powdered milk away from the supply chain in Hong Kong. Members of the public are invited to express their views by February 18, 2013.
A spokesman for the FHB said, "The Government cares about babies' health and has been promoting the merits of breastfeeding in order to encourage its adoption by parents. Where breastfeeding is not feasible, infant formula milk is the only processed foodstuff which wholly fulfils the nutritional requirements of infants during the first months of life until the introduction of appropriate complementary feeding. We have therefore paid particular attention to powdered milk's safety and supply. The Government has been closely monitoring the supply of powdered milk in the local market, so as to ensure that the needs of infants and young children in Hong Kong are met."
"We note that recently, even though major suppliers of powdered milk have enhanced their services, emphasised that they had sufficient stock in hand, and had put in place stringent measures to combat the malpractices of some retailers, many local parents still complained that individual brands of powdered milk were still out of stock at the retail level. We consider that the recent supply chain failure in relation to powdered milk is closely related to parallel trading activities. The huge demand of parallel traders often leads to shortage of certain brands of powdered milk at certain retail outlets."
"To further combat the problem of parallel traders diverting large quantities of powdered milk away from the supply chain in Hong Kong, the Government proposes to amend the Regulations by including powdered formula for infants and young children under the age of 36 months as an item of specified articles in the second column of Schedule 2, and stipulating that an export licence must be obtained from the Director-General of Trade and Industry for any person to export such articles (unless otherwise provided in the legislation). Any person who contravenes such requirement shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of $500,000 and to imprisonment for two years," the spokesman said.
The Trade and Industry Department would in general issue export licences only to importers of "infant/follow-up/growing-up formula and baby food" who have registered under the Food Safety Ordinance or those exempted under section 4(3)(a) of the Food Safety Ordinance from registration requirement. On application, applicants are required to submit import documents to prove that the batch of powdered formula concerned is directly imported from other places by the applicants. Since the existing Food Safety Ordinance has stipulated that a person who imports food in the course of business must keep import documents, the Government believes that this requirement would not impose a substantial additional administrative burden on importers.
Having regard to the need of those departing from Hong Kong for personal use, the Government proposes that not more than a total net weight of 1.8kg of powdered formula may be carried by each person aged 16 or above. In general, the net weight of a can of powdered formula is 0.9 kg. This means that each person may bring two cans. At present, the statutory minimum age for getting married is 16 years of age. The purpose of inserting the age limit is to prevent children from being used to carry such powdered milk.
"We welcome views from stakeholders during the consultation period. The Government will take the views received into account before finalising the relevant proposals," the spokesman said.
"We plan to submit the proposed legislative amendments to the Executive Council in February. If approved, we intend to implement the new provisions as soon as possible."
The consultation document has been uploaded to the FHB website (www.fhb.gov.hk). Written views and comments should be sent to the FHB on or before February 18: by post to the Food and Health Bureau, 18/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong (Re: Amendments to Import and Export (General) Regulations (Cap. 60, sub. leg. A)); by fax to 2136 3282; or by email to fhbenq@fhb.gov.hk. Enquiries can be made on 3509 8706.
Ends/Thursday, February 7, 2013
Issued at HKT 21:28
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