Press Releases
HWFB welcomes Mainland's enhanced measures to regulate vegetables for supply to HK
Since the launching of enhanced measures by Mainland inspection and quarantine
authorities to regulate and control the source of vegetables for supply to Hong
Kong starting April 1, the implementation has been smooth, a spokesman for the
Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said today (April 3).
These measures could better protect the quality of vegetables for supply to Hong
Kong as well as public health, the spokesman added.
"The Mainland initiates the new inspection and quarantine system to stipulate
that vegetables should be properly labelled before exporting to Hong Kong. Such
an arrangement can enhance the management of food incidents. Swifter tracing of
sources will enable Mainland authorities to identify the problem and take
targeted actions," the spokesman said.
These enhanced measures included:
* Strengthened source management by inspection and quarantine authorities on
farms and purchasing stations supplying vegetables to Hong Kong and Macao.
Vegetables from farms and purchasing stations not meeting the necessary
requirements will not be allowed to export vegetables to Hong Kong and Macao.
* Packaging for transport and sale of vegetables supplied to Hong Kong and Macao
should be marked with the name and address of the planting farms, registration
number, product name and manufacturing date to help consumers identify the
source and enhance traceability of problematic vegetables.
* Whole packaging process of vegetables supplied to Hong Kong and Macao will be
supervised and marked by the Mainland inspection and quarantine authorities. The
authorities will also seal the vegetable transportation vehicles.
The spokesman said: "To protect public interest, the Mainland authorities are
implementing the new regulatory scheme in a phased and orderly approach. At the
current phase, the measures are first implemented on leafy vegetables; other
non-leafy vegetables will be included in the next phase after a few months.
"On the one hand, the scheme helps reduce the impact on vegetable supply to the
minimum. On the other hand, it helps ensure the safety of vegetables for supply
to Hong Kong from source to export. The relevant authorities will continue to
explore further measures to enhance the management of the safety of vegetables
for supply to Hong Kong.
"The new system has specifically dealt with the problem of mixing vegetables
from unknown sources with those coming from proper channels in the course of
transportation and hence can better combat unscrupulous practices by individual
traders."
The implementation of any new system will take time for fine-tuning and the
authorities of the two places will continue to monitor the development, the
spokesman added.
The spokesman noted that the supply of vegetables to Hong Kong might be affected
for a short period of time, but would resume stable once the new system ran on
track. He emphasised that the concerned authorities of the two places would join
hands to ensure the normal and stable supply of vegetables. The SAR Government
was informed today that the Mainland authorities would strengthen its
coordination with relevant parties to ensure that vegetable supply would be
unaffected.
In addition, the Government encouraged local vegetable traders to keep proper
sales record to assist the authorities to trace sources when needed.
The spokesman said the Government has been working on legislative proposals to
require food importers to register with the relevant authorities. Prior to the
implementation of the legislative proposals, the Government will introduce a
registration system to encourage the trade to become registered importers so
that they could adjust to the overall regulatory regime early.
Ends/Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:03
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