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Since the launching of enhanced measures by Mainland inspection and quarantine authorities to regulate and control the source of vegetables for supply to Hong Kong starting April 1, the implementation has been smooth, a spokesman for the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said today (April 3).
These measures could better protect the quality of vegetables for supply to Hong Kong as well as public health, the spokesman added.
"The Mainland initiates the new inspection and quarantine system to stipulate that vegetables should be properly labelled before exporting to Hong Kong. Such an arrangement can enhance the management of food incidents. Swifter tracing of sources will enable Mainland authorities to identify the problem and take targeted actions," the spokesman said.
These enhanced measures included:
* Strengthened source management by inspection and quarantine authorities on farms and purchasing stations supplying vegetables to Hong Kong and Macao. Vegetables from farms and purchasing stations not meeting the necessary requirements will not be allowed to export vegetables to Hong Kong and Macao.
* Packaging for transport and sale of vegetables supplied to Hong Kong and Macao should be marked with the name and address of the planting farms, registration number, product name and manufacturing date to help consumers identify the source and enhance traceability of problematic vegetables.
* Whole packaging process of vegetables supplied to Hong Kong and Macao will be supervised and marked by the Mainland inspection and quarantine authorities. The authorities will also seal the vegetable transportation vehicles.
The spokesman said: "To protect public interest, the Mainland authorities are implementing the new regulatory scheme in a phased and orderly approach. At the current phase, the measures are first implemented on leafy vegetables; other non-leafy vegetables will be included in the next phase after a few months.
"On the one hand, the scheme helps reduce the impact on vegetable supply to the minimum. On the other hand, it helps ensure the safety of vegetables for supply to Hong Kong from source to export. The relevant authorities will continue to explore further measures to enhance the management of the safety of vegetables for supply to Hong Kong.
"The new system has specifically dealt with the problem of mixing vegetables from unknown sources with those coming from proper channels in the course of transportation and hence can better combat unscrupulous practices by individual traders."
The implementation of any new system will take time for fine-tuning and the authorities of the two places will continue to monitor the development, the spokesman added.
The spokesman noted that the supply of vegetables to Hong Kong might be affected for a short period of time, but would resume stable once the new system ran on track. He emphasised that the concerned authorities of the two places would join hands to ensure the normal and stable supply of vegetables. The SAR Government was informed today that the Mainland authorities would strengthen its coordination with relevant parties to ensure that vegetable supply would be unaffected.
In addition, the Government encouraged local vegetable traders to keep proper sales record to assist the authorities to trace sources when needed.
The spokesman said the Government has been working on legislative proposals to require food importers to register with the relevant authorities. Prior to the implementation of the legislative proposals, the Government will introduce a registration system to encourage the trade to become registered importers so that they could adjust to the overall regulatory regime early.
Ends/Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:03
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