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Following is a question by the Hon Dr Tang Siu-tong and an oral reply by the Secretary for the Environment and Food, Mrs Lily Yam, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday) :

Question:

In November last year, 4 persons fell ill and were admitted to hospital after eating pig livers which were suspected of containing Clenbuterol, an asthma drug. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a) the number of urine tests for the asthma drug on pigs before they were slaughtered in slaughterhouses, conducted last year by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (formerly known as the Agriculture and Fisheries Department); the percentage of the pigs which were tested in the total number of pigs slaughtered;

(b) the number of pigs whose urine samples showed positive responses in the tests, and how the pigs concerned were dealt with; and

(c) the new measures the newly established Environment and Food Bureau has in place for preventing pigs containing the asthma drug and pigs which are imported or slaughtered illegally from reaching the market; and whether it will formulate work targets and performance pledges in order to assess the effectiveness of those measures?

Reply :

Madam President,

(a) The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) conducted 56 000 tests on pig urine samples in the past year. The number of pigs tested represented 2.5% of the total number of pigs slaughtered. This testing procedure based on sampling is reliable and ties in with the actual operation of slaughterhouses. This is because pigs from the same farm are normally fed the same feed. Moreover, the slaughterhouses need to slaughter on average about 6 200 pigs a day. Since the pigs have to be slaughtered promptly and put to the market for sale, they stay in the slaughterhouses only for an average period ranging from half to one day. On the other hand, it takes at least three hours to obtain the test results. Therefore, there are practical difficulties in increasing the number of pigs being tested.

(b) The urine samples of 550 pigs showed positive results in the above tests. Including other pigs from the same farms, the total number of pigs involved was 7 800, which represented 0.35% of the total number of pigs slaughtered.

The two former municipal services departments dealt with these pigs in three ways. First, pigs with a low level of Clenbuterol in their urine samples were slaughtered and their offals were immediately destroyed while the pig carcasses were released for sale. This is because Clenbuterol is concentrated mainly in offals. Second, offals of pigs with a high level of Clenbuterol in their urine samples were immediately destroyed after slaughtering and further tests were conducted on the pig carcasses. Based on the test results, carcasses which contained Clenbuterol would be destroyed. Third, pigs for which meat traders decided to postpone slaughtering were kept in the slaughterhouse. They were slaughtered only after further urine tests showed negative results.

(c) Since the introduction of the pig tattoo and urine testing system and the stepping up of investigation and enforcement efforts in August 1998, pork and offal samples found to contain Clenbuterol have dropped significantly from 12.5% to the present 1.1%. With the establishment of the Environment and Food Bureau, the Departments concerned [that is, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), AFCD, Department of Health (DH) and Customs and Excise Department (C&ED)] will continue to safeguard food safety at various levels outlined in the following paragraphs.

With respect to farms and slaughterhouses, FEHD will continue to take urine samples for testing for Clenbuterol. If problems were found with the imported pigs, AFCD will inform the Mainland authorities for follow-up action. In addition, AFCD in conjunction with DH will continue to inspect local pig farms suspected of using Clenbuterol. If pig farmers were found to be in possession of the prohibited drug, prosecutions under regulation 36 of the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations will be considered. AFCD will also continue to educate local farmers on the proper use of animal feeds.

With regard to new measures, as there is no legislation which regulates animal feeds at present, we plan to introduce a new set of regulations under the Public Health (Animals and Birds) Ordinance to regulate the use of Clenbuterol and other chemicals by farmers in feeding livestock and poultry, to require feed suppliers to state explicitly feed composition and usage directions, to control the chemical contents in animal feeds and to ban the sale and import of live pigs containing harmful or excessive chemicals. AFCD will consult the agriculture industry on the proposal in the next few months. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, we plan to introduce the proposed regulation into the Legislative Council in the coming legislative year.

FEHD will continue to organise inter-departmental joint operations against illegal slaughterhouses to combat illegal slaughtering activities.

At the retail level, FEHD will continue to inspect fresh provision shops and market stalls to detect the sale of pork from unknown sources. Priority is given to the inspection of suspected outlets by carrying out surprise operations and prosecuting the offenders.

With regard to illegal imports, C&ED will continue to intercept live pigs, chilled and frozen pork illegally imported by road and by sea. It will continue its anti-smuggling actions through intelligence gathering and surprise operations and step up prosecution in conjunction with the departments concerned.

End/Wednesday, January 19, 2000

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