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A one-and-a-half-day symposium has opened in Hong Kong bringing together experts from different parts of the world to share information and exchange views on the challenges and difficulties faced in regulating pesticide residues in food.
Addressing the opening of the Regional Symposium on Regulation of Pesticide Residues in Food co-organised by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the European Commission, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, said today (March 27) that as the use of pesticides and other chemicals was a common agricultural practice, consumer exposure to pesticide residues in food was of considerable concern to some consumers, food producers, academics and government agencies.
"Depending on the nature of the pesticide as well as the amount and duration of exposure, eating food with excessive pesticide residues may cause acute or chronic adverse health effects. The need to regulate pesticide residues in food is indeed critical for the protection of public health," he said.
"In Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety is developing a regulatory framework on this subject, with the objectives of better protecting public health by facilitating effective regulatory control, as well as promoting harmonisation between local and international standards."
Mr Cheuk said the symposium would give an overview of the regulation of pesticide residues in food, as well as the key steps in establishing standards for pesticide residues, such as the determination of maximum residue limits and assessment of whether the limits were adequate for protecting public health in a local setting.
Also officiating at the opening ceremony today was Mrs Maria Castillo Fernandez, Head of the Office of the European Commission in Hong Kong and Macao. Speakers of the symposium are: Mr Denis J Hamilton, Biosecurity Queensland, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Australia, representing the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues; Dr Francesca Arena, Administrator, Health and Consumers Directorate General, European Commission; Professor Ying Ji, Director of Pesticide Residue Division, Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture, The People's of Republic of China; Dr Peter Chan, Director General, Health Evaluation Directorate, Pest Management Regulatory Agency, Health Canada; Dr Paul Brent, Chief Scientist, Food Standards Australia New Zealand; Ms Hermine Reich, Senior Scientific Officer, European Food Safety Authority; Dr Karsten Hohgardt, Scientific Director, Head of Unit Health, Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, Germany; and Principal Medical Officer(Risk Assessment and Communication), CFS, Dr Anne Fung.
About 140 participants from the food trade, academia, government departments and relevant authorities of the Mainland and Macao are taling part in the symposium.
Ends/Friday, March 27, 2009
Issued at HKT 11:10
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