The Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food (Food and Environmental Hygiene), Mrs Carrie Yau, today (March 15) met the visiting Director General of the Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (SZCIQ), Mr Liu Shengli, to forge closer co-operation and exchange between the two places in food safety as well as inspection and quarantine.

     Mr Liu also held discussions with representatives of the Department of Health on enhancing co-operation in checking passengers at the new control point in Shenzhen Bay in respect of the co-location of inspection facilities.

     At the meeting, Mrs Yau briefed Mr Liu the latest development in Hong Kong in relation to food safety including the legislative framework to regulate food importers through registration and enhance the traceability management of imported food by applying information technology to set up and manage the database.

     Mr Liu outlined the measures being taken by the SZCIQ to strengthen the management of fish, vegetable and fruit exports. Mrs Yau exchanged views on the measures with the visitors and forwarded to Mr. Liu the trade's concerns on the measures. It was agreed that the Mainland authorities would continue to liaise with the trade to ensure the stable supply of food to Hong Kong.

     The meeting noted that there had occasionally been reports on illegal food processing plants or food poisoning incidents in the Mainland causing concerns in Hong Kong on the availability of these food products in the Hong Kong retail markets.

     "Foods for internal consumption and export to Hong Kong are different on the Mainland, and we should not mix up the two categories.  The inspection and quarantine systems for these two are also different. The inspection and quarantine authorities of the two places have put in place multiple checks to ensure the safety of food for supply to Hong Kong," Mrs Yau said.

     Farms or processing plants have to meet stringent requirements before they could be accredited by Mainland authorities as registered farms or processing plants for supplying food to Hong Kong. Authorities of the two places would conduct checks at different stages - before leaving the farms or plants, prior to export, at the point of import and at different levels in the Hong Kong market.

     Apart from control at sources, Mainland authorities also take samples for testing before export. At the point of import, the Centre for Food Safety will check the health certificates of the imported produces or food products upon arrival, and take samples for testing.  Samples will also be collected from the marketplace.

     The meeting noted that due to heavy passenger and freight flow between the two places, it was still possible for food to come into Hong Kong through improper channels. The SZCIQ undertook to step up enforcement against smuggling activities.

     In the afternoon, Mrs Yau invited the delegation to visit the Government Laboratory and the Public Health Laboratory Centre under the Department of Health to enable them to have a better understanding on Hong Kong's laboratory testing equipments and capacity. The two sides also explored the co-operation in laboratory testing on pathogen and chemical residues in food animals.

     Joining Mrs Yau in meeting the SZCIQ delegation were the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation, Mrs Stella Hung; Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr Eddy Chan; Controller of the Centre for Food Safety, Dr Mak Sin-ping; Deputy Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing; and Government Chemist, Dr Ting Tai-lun.

Ends/Thursday, March 15, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:15

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