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The following is issued on behalf of the Business Facilitation Advisory Committee Secretariat:
The Business Facilitation Advisory Committee held its 31st meeting today (March 31). The Environment Bureau and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department jointly updated the committee on the review of the Building Energy Code and the Energy Audit Code under the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance.
The committee also reviewed the work of its three task forces. Some notable progress/developments are:
(a) At the briefing on the enhanced surveillance of food imports by the Centre for Food Safety, the Wholesale and Retail Task Force (WRTF) expressed grave concern over the sampling and holding of perishable food products because a whole consignment might have to be written off when the holding time was long. The WRTF strongly urged the Government to establish a performance pledge for holding and testing these food products;
(b) For food safety reasons, the WRTF supported the introduction of the new permit for selling restricted foods online. During the consultation by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), the WRTF enquired whether operators without physical premises could use their residential premises as the business address for the purpose of applying for the new permit. The FEHD has subsequently promulgated the relevant guidelines;
(c) The Buildings Department (BD) and the FEHD jointly briefed the Food Business and Related Services Task Force (FRSTF) on the enhancement of standards for provision of sanitary fitments in public places under the Building (Standards of Sanitary Fitments, Plumbing, Drainage Works and Latrines)(Amendment) Regulation 2015 (Cap. 123I). The FRSTF welcomed the pragmatic approach taken by the BD in applying the new standards of sanitary fitments to existing premises;
(d) The Water Supplies Department (WSD) briefed the FRSTF on the new control measures on the application process for water supply to inside service. The FRSTF was concerned about the long application processing time. The WSD advised that the department had stepped up the efforts to facilitate the smooth implementation of new measures;
(e) To facilitate early approval of a Hygiene Manager (HM) or Hygiene Supervisor (HS) nomination, the FEHD will allow the nominee to self-declare his or her resignation as HM/HS in connection with the previous employment, and will cancel the existing HM/HS record after verification with the operator concerned. The Task Force on Business Liaison Groups (BLGTF) welcomes the business facilitation approach of the FEHD; and
(f) To address the concern of theme parks and attractions on the administrative burden incurred in repeated applications for a temporary food factory licence (TFFL), which is only valid for seven days, the FEHD has advised that for an event that lasts for no more than one year, the department may issue multiple consecutive TFFLs in one go for a span of not more than six months. Applications for further TFFLs will only be granted subject to certain conditions. The BLGTF appreciates the business facilitation initiative of the FEHD.
The committee also appreciates the continuous efforts of the bureaux and departments in further enhancing their business licensing services under the "Be the Smart Regulator" Programme. Major progress is highlighted below:
(a) The Marine Department has introduced an online service for seafarers to check through the Internet the status of their licence applications. This measure improves the transparency of the application process;
(b) The Planning Department, as the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, has launched the Electronic Planning Application Submission System as an additional channel for the public to submit planning/review applications online to the Town Planning Board round the clock; and
(c) The Hong Kong Police Force has published a regular internal newsletter, "Licensing Matters", updating its front-line staff on the latest licensing-related policies and guidelines, helping them to carry out their licensing and enforcement work more effectively.
Papers for the committee meeting will be available at www.gov.hk/en/business/supportenterprises/bf/advisory/index.htm for public access.
Ends/Thursday, March 31, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:21
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