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The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, today (August 23) visited Man Kam To Food Control Office (FCO), managed by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, to learn more about the quarantine and inspection of food imported from the Mainland.
Mr Tsang said food safety was an important element to determine people's quality of life as well as an issue of public concern. "The Government set up the CFS in 2006 to monitor food safety, and quarantine and inspection work at the boundary control points is an integral part of the entire monitoring system. That is why I wanted to visit the FCO and see the operations of food quarantine and inspection there," he said.
The Food Control Office is mainly tasked with three aspects of work: inspecting food vehicles, conducting tests for pesticides in vegetables and veterinary drug residues in raw milk, and inspecting imported live food animals (pigs, cattle, goats and chickens), freshwater fish and live seafood.
Accompanied by the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr Eddy Chan, and CFS Controller, Dr Mak Sin-ping, Mr Tsang saw the FCO's work in all these areas. He was told that, on every front, the CFS had introduced or would initiate new measures to enhance the quality of food quarantine or inspection.
For example, the Man Kam To Food Laboratory would acquire new equipment so that in future, tests could be conducted for more pesticides, from 70 to about 200 chemicals.
Control at source is as important as quarantine and inspection work at the boundary control points in food safety monitoring. Under the present administrative arrangements with the Mainland authorities, all imported vegetables have to be sourced from registered farms or processing plants on the Mainland. Each consignment of vegetable has to be accompanied by a Monitoring Card issued by related Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (CIQ) on the Mainland and Pesticide Declaration Form issued by related farm or processing plant. Identification tags have to be attached to each box of vegetables.
From April this year, all vehicles conveying leafy vegetables have to be sealed by related CIQ upon their inspection before export to Hong Kong.
In view of the growing volume of cross-boundary food traffic and the trend for traders to use large food vehicles, the CFS is planning to build more inspection platforms on sites adjacent to the FCO and expand its facilities to enhance the effectiveness of inspection.
"Apart from more effective law enforcement, we also need more effective legislation. The Government is drafting a food safety law to tighten the management of the food supply process. Food importers and distributors will be put under regulation gradually in a bid to ensure the overall safety of food imports," Mr Tsang said.
"They will be required to enrol with the CFS to facilitate the identification of the relevant importers and distributors, tracing the source of food and taking follow-up action in case of any food incident to ensure a more comprehensive protection of the safety of imported food."
Noting that the Guangdong authorities had started the implementation of a system of applying seals to vehicles and vessels transporting freshwater fish to Hong Kong, Mr Tsang said this new arrangement would effectively enhance the management of food imports to Hong Kong during the transportation process and could raise further the safety standard of food supply from Guangdong.
Before ending his visit, Mr Tsang met FCO frontline staff. Lauding their professionalism, the Chief Executive said: "The growing public interest in food safety and the challenges that you face in your day-to-day work show that the CFS is shouldering heavy responsibilities. I hope you will keep up your efforts in gatekeeping and monitoring work so as to further enhance the safety of food imported into Hong Kong and protect public health."
Ends/Thursday, August 23, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:06
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