Following is a question by the Hon Shiu Ka-fai and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (October 21):

Question:

     Some members of the local health food industry have relayed that under the "Administrative Provisions of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Registration of Overseas Manufacturers for Export of Food to China" (Order No. 280 of the General Administration of Customs), the General Administration of Customs of the Mainland is responsible for determining the catalogue of imported food subject to official recommendation for registration (the Catalogue). Overseas production enterprises of food listed in the Catalogue shall submit the review and inspection report and recommendation letter issued by the appropriate authorities of the region where these enterprises are located before making any application for allowing their food to access the Mainland market. However, upon application to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) for Recommendation on Food Manufacturer Registration, some members of the industry were notified that their applications could not be processed further after receiving a reply from the FEHD stating that "the products under application are not regarded as general food products and fall outside the remit of the FEHD". Subsequently, these applicants contacted the Department of Health and were informed that health food products did not fall within the category of pharmaceutical products, and their applications were not processed again. The aforesaid situation shows that local health food products are currently facing a predicament where they are unable to obtain recommendation for registration and encounters difficulties in accessing the Mainland market. As a result, these applicants have nowhere to turn to for assistance, and sustainable development of the local industries will be affected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has assessed the market size, annual growth rate and other conditions of local health food products over the past five years; if so, of the details; if not, whether it has made references to the results of other market surveys in respect of such matters;

(2) whether it has assessed the demand for health products and health food in the Mainland market over the past five years; if so, of the details; if not, whether it has made references to the results of other market surveys in respect of such matters;

(3) whether the Administration has received complaint cases about failure of health food products to obtain recommendation for registration over the past three years; if so, of the respective numbers of such cases received in each year; how it provided assistance to the applicants; and

(4) given that the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030) proposes consolidating Hong Kong's role as a food import and export trade hub, promoting the export of a wider spectrum of Hong Kong food products to the Mainland and enabling them to enjoy customs clearance facilitation, how the authorities will assist local health food products in developing the Mainland market, including the specific measures facilitating transport and customs clearance to be implemented?

Reply:

President,

     All food confers some benefit on health. To help safeguard food safety, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CODEX), a body established jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), provides a definition and classification of "food", together with the corresponding food safety standards. The products that are commonly claimed to be health food products are highly diverse in type and vary in composition, and may be sold under different names. Such products include, for example, powder and capsule products containing Chinese or Western medicinal ingredients. There is also no internationally unified definition or regulatory approach for these products. Different regions take different approaches.

     In Hong Kong, given that health food products may contain medicinal or Chinese herbal medicine ingredients and involve claims of specific health effects, the Government adopts a multi-pronged strategy to regulate such products. Depending on their nature, ingredients, content of claims made, directions for use, dosage, packaging specifications, etc, health products are subject to regulation under different ordinances, including the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (PHMSO) (Cap. 132), the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (PPO) (Cap. 138), the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (CMO) (Cap. 549), the Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance (UMAO) (Cap. 231) and legislation underpinning the general protection of consumer rights. The control under the UMAO (Cap. 231) also applies to six groups of health claims for "orally consumed products". 

     Having consulted the Health Bureau, the Department of Health (DH), and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, we set out our reply to various parts of the question as follows.

(1) and (2) The HKSAR Government has not compiled official statistics specifically on the market size of health food products.

(3) According to the Decree No. 280 of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) "Administrative Provisions of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Registration of Overseas Manufacturers for Export of Food to China" (the Provisions), overseas manufacturers of food products listed in the catalogue of imported foods requiring registration upon official recommendation must submit an audit and inspection report (the items audited cover origins of the raw materials used in products, environment and layout of the production premises, production equipment, storage facilities, etc) and a recommendation letter issued by the competent authority of their region before applying to enter the Mainland market. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), the DH, and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department have been recognised respectively by the GACC as a competent authority of the HKSAR. 

     Under the PHMSO (Cap. 132), "food" includes articles and substances used as ingredients in the preparation of food, but does not include medicine as defined by section 2(1) of the PPO (Cap. 138) or Chinese herbal medicine or proprietary Chinese medicine as defined by section 2(1) of the CMO (Cap. 549). If a health product manufactured in Hong Kong is classified as a "pharmaceutical product" under the PPO (Cap. 138) or a "proprietary Chinese medicine" under the CMO (Cap. 549), it must be registered in accordance with the relevant ordinance and meet the requirements for safety, quality and efficacy before it can be sold and supplied in Hong Kong. The manufacturer of the product must also hold the relevant manufacturer's licence under the PPO (Cap. 138) or the CMO (Cap. 549) before manufacturing the product in Hong Kong.

     According to our records, in the past three years, the FEHD made seven recommendations for food product registration applications under the Provisions successfully, in which none was related to products with health claims. Furthermore, the FEHD received five applications involving health food products that were unable to obtain a recommendation for registration in the past three years. As those products contained Chinese medicine ingredients under the CMO (Cap. 549), they did not fall within the definition of "food" under the PHMSO (Cap. 132). Some of these cases were referred to the DH for follow-up and scrutiny. However, as the products concerned were not "pharmaceutical products" as defined by PPO (Cap. 138) or "proprietary Chinese medicines" as defined by the CMO (Cap. 549), they were not regulated under the relevant ordinances and could not obtain a recommendation through the "pharmaceutical product" or "proprietary Chinese medicine" route. The FEHD was also unable to make a recommendation in respect of those products. 

     As regards products regulated under the PPO (Cap. 138) or the CMO (Cap. 549), in the past three years, the DH issued, on application by local enterprises and under the Provisions, one and three recommendation letters for products manufactured in Hong Kong and registered respectively as "pharmaceutical products" and "proprietary Chinese medicines".

(4) To consolidate Hong Kong's role as a food import and export trade hub, the HKSAR Government has all along maintained close communication with Mainland authorities to facilitate the export of more types of traditional food products manufactured in Hong Kong to the Mainland and to enable them to enjoy customs facilitation. For example, following discussion with the GACC, Hong Kong meat and dairy products have been allowed to be exported to the Mainland since last year. Furthermore, customs facilitation arrangements have been implemented for some Hong Kong food products (including beverages, pastries, confectionery, tea, some noodle products and condiments). Upon testing at the customs, these food products can be released without the need to wait for test results. Having regard to the development of the local food industry, the Government will continue to discuss with the Mainland competent authorities ways to further optimise the scope of the customs facilitation measure.

     All food as defined in the PHMSO (Cap. 132) can benefit from the Government's policy in promoting the food industry on the premise that they meet the regulations and food safety standards, regardless of whether they claim to be health food products. 

Ends/Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Issued at HKT 12:00

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