Following is a question by the Hon Steven Ho and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, in the Legislative Council today (January 28):

Question:

     It is learnt that online shopping has become increasingly popular in recent years, and quite a number of members of the public purchase controlled items such as meat (particularly raw meat), poultry, eggs and orchids through local and cross-boundary online shopping platforms. There are views pointing out that food products such as raw meat are easily perishable after prolonged transportation, thereby giving rise to food safety risks, while items such as orchids are regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and local legislation, and it is an offence to import or export them without a licence. In addition, under the online shopping mode, the demarcation of responsibilities among online shopping platforms, logistics/consolidator companies and consumers may become blurred, thereby creating loopholes in law enforcement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the main legislation currently in force to regulate cross-boundary online purchases of controlled items, and how the authorities will intercept such cross-boundary online shopping parcels; whether the existing legislation clearly delineates the legal responsibilities of sellers, online shopping platforms, logistics/consolidator companies and consumers in respect of parcels containing prohibited articles; if so, of the details, including the specific criteria for delineating responsibilities and the penalties; if not, whether it will amend the legislation to strengthen the relevant regulation;

(2) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in each of the past three years involving online purchases of regulated foods such as meat, poultry and eggs (e.g. food poisoning, food spoilage or mislabelling of packaging), and among such complaints, the respective numbers of prosecutions instituted, together with a breakdown by (a) those involving local online shopping platforms and (b) those involving cross-boundary online shopping platforms (including "overseas direct delivery");

(3) how the Government regulates the supply and transportation processes of fresh produce (e.g. raw meat) sold on local online shopping platforms to ensure food safety (including the relevant legislation, inspection frequency and sampling mechanism); whether the Government has expressly required platform operators to assume the gatekeeping responsibilities in relation to the sources of suppliers, temperature control during transportation and health certificates; whether it has formulated a stringent mechanism to trace the production sources and hold the parties concerned responsible in the event of food safety incidents; if so, of the details; if not, the plans to step up regulation in future;

(4) as it is learnt that some Mainland online shopping platforms have imposed regional restrictions by hiding search results to restrict cross-boundary purchases of controlled items by users in Hong Kong, whether the Government has enquired with the relevant Mainland authorities about the effectiveness of such measures; whether the Government will discuss with the Mainland authorities the adoption of other measures to strengthen the regulation of cross-boundary online shopping; if so, of the details; if not, whether it has plans to strengthen the relevant regulation; and

(5) as it is learnt that some controlled items from the Mainland are first shipped to consolidation warehouses on the Mainland and then forwarded to Hong Kong by way of consolidation to circumvent the restrictions imposed by online shopping platforms, whether the Government has reviewed if the existing technology and law enforcement resources are sufficient to deal with such highly covert unlawful acts; whether it will step up joint inspections with the Mainland customs and collaborate with the relevant Mainland authorities in discussions with large-scale online shopping and consolidator companies, with a view to further intercepting the inflow of prohibited articles into Hong Kong?

Reply:

President,

     As technology advances continuously and supporting services such as payment and logistics are becoming more comprehensive and efficient, online shopping becomes increasingly popular. A considerable number of members of the public purchase various types of goods, including controlled items, through electronic commerce (e-commerce) platforms.

     Having consulted the Environment and Ecology Bureau, the Security Bureau and the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), the reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:

(1) There are strict regulations in Hong Kong on the import and export of all prohibited/controlled items, with different legislation in place to control and regulate such items like dangerous drugs, weapons, controlled chemicals, food, animals and plants, etc. These regulations are applicable to all modes of import and export, including items purchased through cross-border e-commerce platforms.

     For instance, under the Import and Export Ordinance (Cap. 60), import or export of all controlled items must be accompanied by a valid licence or permit issued by the relevant authorities. Any person who brings any controlled item into/out of Hong Kong (whether by person, by post, or through purchasing agents or consolidated consignments) without a valid licence or permit may be prosecuted, in addition to the confiscation of the subject item. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

     Regarding the import and export control of restricted food, pursuant to the Imported Game, Meat, Poultry and Eggs Regulations (Cap. 132AK), each consignment of imported game, meat, poultry and eggs, whether for personal use or not, must be accompanied by a health certificate issued by the issuing entity of the place of origin or written permission from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD). Offenders are liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for six months.

     Meanwhile, the trade of endangered species in Hong Kong is regulated under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586), in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Any person importing scheduled species under Cap. 586 has to produce a valid export/re-export permit or certificate issued by the CITES Management Authority of the exporting place. Importing CITES Appendix I species or live Appendix II species of wild origin also requires a Licence to Import issued in advance by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. Offenders are liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $10 million and to imprisonment for 10 years, and the relevant specimens will be forfeited.

(2) Over the past three years (2023 to 2025), the FEHD received 22, 11 and 11 complaints respectively each year concerning the online purchase of restricted food, all of which involved local online shopping platforms. Among the cases received in these three years, five, three and four cases respectively were related to raw meat and poultry, and there were no complaints involving eggs. The FEHD immediately investigated and followed up on all cases through contacting the complainants for further investigation and collecting food samples for testing.

     Upon receiving public complaints concerning food, the FEHD will initiate investigations and undertake follow-up actions according to the nature and particulars of each case. Where sufficient evidence is gathered, the FEHD will proceed with prosecution in accordance with established procedures. Among the 44 complaints mentioned above, only in two cases were the complainants able to provide exhibits and willing to testify in court. For these two cases, the FEHD collected the exhibits for testing. As the test results for both exhibits were satisfactory, the FEHD was unable to initiate prosecution in these instances. Nevertheless, the FEHD has followed up on all cases, which included contacting the online shopping platforms under complaint to understand their food storage and delivery arrangements, as well as carrying out education on food safety and environmental hygiene.

(3) Under the Food Business Regulation (Cap. 132X), local online shopping platforms selling any restricted food (including pre-packaged fresh, chilled or frozen meat, as well as pre-packaged chilled or frozen poultry) must obtain from the FEHD the permit applicable to the sale of that category of restricted food. As per the stipulated conditions of the permit, these online shopping platforms are only allowed to sell restricted food supplied by licensed food factories/other lawful sources and/or other sources approved by the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene. Certification of such source are also required to be kept for at least 60 days and be produced for inspection, upon demand by a health inspector or a public office authorised in writing. The standard terms of the abovementioned permit also stipulate that the holder must ensure that the restricted food is kept hygienically at all times during delivery to customers, with their packaging remains intact and kept at safe and appropriate chilled or frozen temperatures. Specifically, pre-packaged fresh meat must be kept at a chilled temperature of 10°C or below, while pre-packaged chilled meat or poultry must be kept at a temperature between 0°C and 4°C and not exceeding 8°C at all times. As for pre-packaged frozen meat or poultry, the frozen temperature must be kept below 0°C. The FEHD has established a dedicated mechanism for monitoring the online sales of restricted food, which includes placing orders for restricted food items from each local online platform as an ordinary consumer at least once annually to examine the delivery arrangements, temperature control, packaging and food condition during the delivery process; as well as inspecting the registered business addresses at least once every six months, during which the food supplier's certificates would be checked. The FEHD also regularly reviews websites or platform accounts for any information indicating non-compliance with temperature control or delivery requirements. Where irregularities are identified, the FEHD will follow up immediately and take appropriate enforcement action.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) under the FEHD has been closely monitoring the food safety risks associated with online food purchases. Since 2015, the CFS has been collecting samples of food items purchased online for testing as part of its Food Surveillance Programme. The annual sample size has gradually increased from approximately 1 500 per year initially to over 9 300 in 2025. In 2025, apart from seven samples that failed the tests, all other samples tested were satisfactory, achieving an overall satisfactory rate of about 99.9 per cent. This is comparable to the test results for food samples purchased from physical retail outlets.

     To assist the trade in understanding the food safety requirements, the FEHD published the Online Grocery Shopping and Delivery – Food Safety Advice for the Food Businesses and Consumers to introduce a series of food safety measures for reducing the risk of foodborne diseases when providing grocery delivery services. In formulating these recommendations, the FEHD has drawn reference to a series of key principles derived from the Good Hygiene Practices. Implementing these recommendations helps minimise food safety risks associated with online food purchases.

     In the event of a food incident, the CFS will investigate and trace the source according to the established mechanism having regard to the circumstances of the case. The Food Safety Ordinance (Cap. 612) establishes a registration scheme for food importers and distributors, and stipulates the requirements on the keeping of food transaction records. This facilitates the tracing of the sources and points of sale of the food concerned should a food incident occur. The Ordinance applies also to food sold via local online shopping platforms. Where necessary, the CFS will instruct that the affected food batches be discontinued from sale and removed from shelves. It may also require the importer/distributor to initiate a recall and dispose of the affected products as needed. The CFS will also make an announcement on the incident to explain the associated food safety risks to the public.

(4) and (5) The C&ED has established a communication mechanism with major non-local cross-border e-commerce platforms for dedicated staff to conduct exchanges and step up compliance promotion, including explaining to the platforms the regulatory requirements of various types of items under the relevant Hong Kong legislation, as well as requiring strict compliance with the laws of Hong Kong for all the imports of controlled items. Relevant e-commerce platforms have actively co-operated by introducing technology to prohibit the trading of import-controlled items or listing them as items that cannot be delivered across borders. If suspected controlled goods that could be delivered to Hong Kong are found to be sold on e-commerce platforms, the C&ED will proactively contact the relevant e-commerce platforms and request for follow-up actions, such as requiring the platform operators to restrict the delivery of such items to Hong Kong.

     The C&ED is planning to establish a closer co-operation framework with non-local cross-border e-commerce platforms to further strengthen compliance promotion. This includes notification of the latest legal and regulatory requirements in a timely manner, as well as assisting e-commerce platforms in training merchants to keep the latter abreast of the details of prohibited/controlled items in Hong Kong.

     In addition, the C&ED has all along been applying risk assessment and intelligence analysis, and maintaining close intelligence exchange with the Mainland law enforcement agencies to combat cross-boundary smuggling activities. Apart from reviewing relevant documents (such as manifests, advance cargo information, etc.) and conducting risk management on all cargoes importing into and exporting from Hong Kong, including those imported into Hong Kong through consolidated consignments, for selecting suspicious cargoes for inspection (via scanning by X-ray checker and ion scanner, open examination and sniffing by Customs detector dogs, etc.), the C&ED flexibly deploys its internal resources to mount targeted anti-smuggling operations in a timely manner and conduct joint operations with the Mainland Customs to prevent prohibited articles or controlled items from importing into and exporting out of Hong Kong illegally.

Ends/Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Issued at HKT 14:13

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