LCQ7: Regulation of the sale of fresh produce
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Question:
It has been reported that, in recent years, the Mainland has continuously improved its regulatory policies on the sale of fresh produce, such as vegetables, fruit, livestock and poultry meat, and aquatic products. For example, the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Quality and Safety in the Marketing of Edible Agricultural Products, effective from December 2023, comprehensively prohibit sellers from using lighting facilities that significantly change the true colour of live and fresh edible agricultural products (commonly known as "fresh food lighting"); and the national standard on Restricting Excessive Packaging Requirements of Fresh Edible Agricultural Products, effective from April last year, which imposes stringent regulations on the interspace ratio, number of layers and cost ratio of the packaging of such products. Regarding the regulation of the sale of fresh produce, will the Government inform this Council of the following:
(1) whether reference will be made to the above measures in the Mainland to prohibit the trade from using lighting facilities that affect the true colour of fresh produce;
(2) apart from formulating guidelines on product packaging reduction (for example, Practical Guides on Packaging Reduction And Management developed by the Environmental Protection Department for specific sectors), whether the Government will consider following the Mainland's practice of restricting the excessive packaging of locally produced fresh produce;
(3) whether it will optimise its policy to enhance the transparency of the fresh produce retail market by making reference to the good regulatory experience of the Mainland or overseas countries, and maintain a level playing field in the business environment, thereby facilitating the healthy development of the industry and boosting consumers' confidence; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4) whether it has established a mechanism to regularly assess the effectiveness of the existing policy on regulating the sale of fresh produce; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5) given the views that the supply chain of fresh produce is complex, whether the Government has plans to establish a comprehensive traceability system for fresh produce (including fresh produce not supplied locally), so as to enable consumers to clearly ascertain information such as the origin and farm names of such food products through reliable channels, preventing counterfeit and substandard products from entering the market, while at the same time enabling high-quality business operators to gain market recognition?
Reply:
President,
Having consulted the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, I provide the following reply to the questions on "fresh food lighting" and other related issues raised by Dr the Hon Hoey Simon Lee:
(1) and (3) Regarding the regulation of fresh provision shops selling fresh food, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has put in place a well-established regulatory regime for safeguarding food safety and public health. For details, please refer to parts (4) and (5) of the ensuing reply.
On protection of consumers' rights and interests, there are currently various laws in Hong Kong for safeguarding the rights and interests of consumers. Among others, the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362) prohibits traders from subjecting consumers to unfair trade practices, with the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) as its principal enforcement agency. Meanwhile, the Consumer Council (the Council) endeavours to study and promote the protection of consumers' rights and interests, including handling consumers' complaints on goods and services. Consumers may report to the C&ED or file complaints with the Council against suspected unfair trade practices employed by traders in the provision of fresh food.
(2) Hong Kong's supply of fresh food is primarily imported, with packaging largely conducted outside the city, making the regulation of packaging materials and methods for fresh food relatively complex. Relatively speaking, it is more pragmatic to encourage the trade to reduce food packaging or do it in a more environmentally-friendly way. To this end, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) launched the Packaging Reduction Charter on March 31 this year to encourage businesses to adopt sustainable packaging reduction practices. These include reviewing their packaging designs to minimise unnecessary material use, enhancing the recyclability and reusability of packaging, as well as exploring other innovative solutions. Hitherto, 128 businesses have signed the charter, with 20 of them related to the fresh food retailing and food manufacturing sectors, pledging reduction in packaging usage.
In addition, to assist the trades in enhancing packaging management, the EPD formulated the Practical Guides on Packaging Reduction and Management for their reference. The set of Guides covers sectors relevant to fresh food, such as "Supermarkets and Grocery Stores" and "Food Manufacturing". In parallel, the EPD promotes simple packaging and waste reduction at source, and encourages green business and consumption through publicity and education (e.g. workshops, seminars and websites). The EPD will continue to closely monitor the effectiveness of packaging reduction measures across various sectors.
(4) and (5) The CFS has established an effective food safety regulatory mechanism covering stages of import, wholesale and retail to ensure that food (including fresh food) available for sale in Hong Kong are safe for consumption.
Certain high-risk food such as game, meat, poultry and eggs must come from sources recognised by the FEHD. Checking of import documents and surveillance at import control points are conducted by the CFS at the time of food import. In addition, the Food Safety Ordinance (Cap. 612) has established a food tracing mechanism, which provides that any person engaged in the food business shall maintain records of the movements of food, including the date the food was acquired, the name and contact details of the seller, the place from which the food was imported, and the total quantity and description of the food. The relevant provisions ensure that the Government can promptly and effectively trace the source of food and take corresponding follow-up actions in case of a food incident.
The CFS implements the Food Surveillance Programme to collect food samples (including those of fresh food) for testing at the import, wholesale and retail/catering levels under a risk-based principle on an ongoing basis, and takes corresponding enforcement actions against unsatisfactory surveillance results. In 2024, the CFS tested about 66 900 samples for regular surveillance and the overall satisfactory rate was 99.8 per cent.
The CFS has also been closely monitoring food incidents, both local and elsewhere. Based on factors such as risk level, legal requirements and whether the concerned food products are sold in Hong Kong, the CFS decides on the appropriate risk management actions. If necessary, the CFS will communicate with health authorities, importers, distributors and retailers of the region(s) concerned on the food incidents, and take corresponding actions such as requesting the trade to stop selling such products, conducting tests as and when appropriate, issuing directions to the trade and directing a food recall. The CFS will issue rapid alert to traders to inform them of the latest situation. It will also issue press releases to give advice to consumers if the food incidents are of public health concern to the local population.
Regarding the regulation of fresh provision shops selling fresh food, the Food Business Regulation (Cap. 132X) stipulates that any person who intends to sell fresh, chilled or frozen beef, mutton, pork, reptiles (including live snake), fish (including live fish) and poultry at any premises in the territory must obtain a fresh provision shop licence issued by the FEHD before commencement of such business. Also, a trained and qualified full-time Hygiene Supervisor must be appointed to monitor food safety and hygiene at premises in accordance with licence conditions. The FEHD conducts regular risk-based inspections of licensed fresh provision shops to ensure that licensees comply with licensing requirements and conditions as well as hygiene standards prescribed under the law. Where breaches of licence conditions are identified, the FEHD will issue verbal or written warnings and consider revoking licences in serious cases. In addition to implementing regulatory measures, the FEHD provides ongoing health education to licensees, including the dissemination of food safety and health advice to licensees and their staff during regular inspections of premises, and the organisation of food hygiene talks, seminars and workshops to enhance the trade's standards in food safety and hygiene.
Ends/Thursday, September 25, 2025
Issued at HKT 12:45
Issued at HKT 12:45
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