******************************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Michael Tien and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (May 29):
Question:
The chilled meat and poultry trade has been operating in Hong Kong for over a decade, and the demand for chilled meat and poultry has been rising continuously in recent years. For example, the daily quantity of imported chilled chicken increased from 80 tonnes in 2008 to 104 tonnes in 2012. Last year, the quantity of imported chilled chicken accounted for 40% of the total quantity of imported chicken, and those of chilled ducks and geese accounted for 90% and 99% respectively of the total quantities of imports of their kinds. On the other hand, chilled food products must be kept under refrigeration at a temperature of 4℃ or below under the Food Hygiene Code, and a licence is required under the law for operating a food refrigeration business. As ancillary facilities for the wholesaling of chilled meat and poultry are currently unavailable in Hong Kong, wholesalers can only put chilled meat and poultry into temporary storage in lorries equipped with refrigeration facilities and in freezers in order to carry out the process of dividing and distributing chilled meat and poultry. It has been reported that targeting at such operation mode of "storage prior to distribution", the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department prosecutes wholesalers for committing the offence of running cold stores without licences. Members of the chilled meat and poultry trade have repeatedly written to the Food and Health Bureau, requesting the Government to set up an approved distribution and storage centre for chilled meat and poultry to centralise the management of the business concerned, with a view to reducing food risks. However, no reply has been received from the Government. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities will consider drawing up and updating relevant legislation and rules to ensure that the whole process of importing and wholesaling chilled meat and poultry conforms to hygiene standards, in order to enhance food safety and provide legislation and rules for the trade to follow so as to avoid their being prosecuted; and
(b) whether the authorities will consider the request of the trade for setting up an approved distribution and storage centre and initiate a site selection study ?
Reply:
President,
Ensuring that the food sold in Hong Kong is safe and fit for human consumption is one of the work priorities of the Food and Health Bureau. We are committed to enhancing food safety through a multi-pronged approach. We adopt the "from farm to table" strategy promulgated by the World Health Organization under which surveillance is carried out at source as well as the import, wholesale and retail levels to safeguard public health. To ensure that the chilled poultry sold in Hong Kong is fit for consumption, we consider it essential to properly monitor the handling process that the chilled poultry goes through.
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) Under the agreement reached between Hong Kong and the Mainland, all live and fresh food (including chilled poultry) supplied to Hong Kong by the Mainland must be imported through Man Kam To. The chilled poultry and meat has to come from farms and poultry/meat processing plants registered with the relevant Mainland inspection and quarantine authority. Upon arrival at the boundary checkpoint, the chilled poultry and meat must bear animal health certificates issued by the relevant authorities.
All consignments of chilled poultry/meat that may be imported will be inspected at Man Kam To and then directly transported, in their original packaging, to food factories for processing (including cutting into parts or re-packaging), or to restaurants, markets and fresh provision shops for sale. Traders may, depending on their operational needs, temporarily keep the imported chilled poultry/meat, in their original packaging, at a licensed cold store before redistributing them to food factories, restaurants or retail outlets. In granting approval for traders to import chilled poultry/meat from the Mainland into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) imposes conditions on how the goods vehicles used for transportation should be equipped, requiring that any such vehicle should have an enclosed conveying compartment with refrigerating devices, temperature measuring devices, as well as a temperature gauge affixed outside the vehicle for verification purpose. Besides, the CFS requires that the chilled poultry/meat should be stored at a temperature between 0℃ and 4℃ throughout the process of transporting the chilled poultry/meat from registered processing establishments in the Mainland to food factories, restaurants and retail outlets in Hong Kong. The temperature should in no circumstances exceed 8℃.
If the business operation of chilled poultry/meat importers involves the use of food premises as defined under the Food Business Regulation, the importers are required to apply to the FEHD for an appropriate food premises licence, such as a cold store licence, a food factory licence or a fresh provision shop licence, for lawful handling of imported chilled poultry/meat. When considering licence applications, the FEHD will seek advice from the government departments concerned to ensure that the applications are in compliance with various requirements including those relating to land use, building safety, planning, fire safety and hygiene.
The lack of assurance about the state of the hygiene conditions and facilities in premises without a food business licence is such that storing and processing chilled poultry/meat in these premises presents substantive food safety risk. With a view to safeguarding public health, FEHD staff, acting in accordance with the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance or the Food Business Regulation, will take enforcement actions against any person who operates an unlicensed food business (including cold store business) including confiscating the items concerned.
The existing legislation and control mechanism for regulating chilled poultry/meat processing are well-established and generally effective. The FEHD has also formulated clear guidelines for reference by the industry. As such, the Government does not consider it necessary to amend the relevant legislation and control mechanism at present.
(b) Relative to the chilled meat importation business, the live and fresh food industry is different in terms of development history and business nature. The Administration has set up public wholesale markets for live and fresh food with a view to providing a platform for on-the-spot price negotiation and transaction. As for imports of chilled meat, the transaction details (including volume and price) have already been agreed upon in advance among the parties concerned before the consignment arrives in Hong Kong. Besides, traders may rent a cold store or apply for an appropriate licence for handling the distribution and storage of chilled meat. Under such circumstances, the Government does not have any plan to set up a distribution and storage centre for chilled poultry/meat.
As regards arrangements pertaining to the storage and distribution of chilled poultry/meat after importation, importers may, as I mentioned above, apply to the FEHD for a relevant food business licence according to their operational needs, or rent a cold store in the market place for proper processing of chilled poultry/meat. At present, there are altogether 37 licensed cold stores in the territory. According to information gathered by the FEHD from individual licensed cold store operators, there are large-scale cold stores in the market place which could provide space for traders to store their chilled poultry/meat. Not only do some of these stores operate round the clock, they could well provide sufficient parking spaces. The relevant trade association or individual traders may wish to consider exploring with the cold store operators opportunities for entering into commercial arrangements that meet their long-term needs in terms of storage accommodation.
Enquiries and applications may also be made to the relevant Government departments should the trade wish to rent government land for setting up a distribution and storage centre for chilled meat and poultry.
Ends/Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:32
NNNN
