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A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said today (May 14) that the special hotline (3142 2288) set up by the Government to stabilise supply of powdered formula for infants and young children will stand down starting from midnight of May 17.
In view of the supply chain failure in the local market earlier this year, the Government announced on February 1 the setting up of a special hotline as a short-term measure. The purpose of the special hotline is to ensure that local parents are able to purchase powdered formula, thereby protecting the health of their infants and young children. The hotline has been effective and able to cope with the peak demand period before the Chinese New Year. It has helped parents order major brands of powdered formula and allayed their concern.
The measure on regulating the export of powdered formula has been very effective. Since the regulation came into force on March 1, parallel trading activities relating to powdered formula have dropped significantly and the supply of powdered formula has generally become stable.
The Government has noticed that there has been a constant decrease in the number of calls received by the special hotline. Since the regulation on export of powdered formula came into operation on March 1, a total of 343 calls were received until May 13, including 133 purchase orders. On average, the special hotline handled fewer than five calls and referred fewer than two purchase orders each day.
During the recent Labour Day holiday period in the Mainland, the supply of powdered formula in Hong Kong was generally stable, and the usage of the hotline remained at a very low level.
"The special hotline is only a short-term measure adopted in the wake of the supply chain failure in the market. Since the number of calls received by the special hotline has significantly decreased and remains at a very low level, we consider that it is time to stop the service for better utilisation of resources," the spokesman said.
The spokesman emphasised that the existing services of major suppliers of powdered formula, including the customer hotlines and online services, are the most direct channels through which local parents may order powdered formula.
The Government will continue to closely monitor the supply of powdered formula in the market. The Government will maintain close contact with major suppliers of powdered formula and retail representatives, and has requested them to step up their efforts to improve the supply chain to ensure an adequate and stable supply of powdered formula for local infants and young children. They should ensure sufficient local supply of powdered formula, improve the stock replenishment mechanism, set up services for advance order of powdered formula at retail outlets, and provide support to hotlines for taking purchase orders by ensuring that there is sufficient manpower to handle purchase orders arising from a surge in demand.
The special hotline has been operated by staff of the Efficiency Unit since it came into operation. The staff can handle the additional calls generated by the special hotline on top of the calls received from 1823. Therefore, no additional manpower and financial resources are incurred by the special hotline.
Ends/Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:02
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