Press Releases
SFH on Food Safety Bill
Following is the transcript of remarks (English portion) made by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, at a media stand-up session at
the Legislative Council Building today (February 9):
Reporter: Do you think it is going to be practical for all food traders to
keep all these transaction records or will this increase their burden
drastically?
Secretary for Food and Health: We have consulted the trade very extensively
in different capacity. Particularly the big traders have no problem and I
think for the medium-sized and small (traders), they of course have to face
some changes. But the only thing they need to do is just to get themselves
registered and also to keep the receipts of the transaction, depending on
the types of goods, either for three months or two years. We have done some
pilot studies in some of the retail markets which show that most of the
traders can actually compile and are able to accommodate this new measure.
So we are quite confident that this is not going to be a difficult thing for
the trade to follow. Moreover, the registration fee is actually very
minimal, in fact it is less than $200 for three years. So it can be
affordable for most of the traders, even the smallest ones.
Reporter: How effectively do you think these measures will help the
authority to trace problematic food sources in future?
Secretary for Food and Health: It is very important because every time we
face a food alert, we need to know where the food comes from. If they have
the transaction receipts, then we know actually where they come from and
also narrow down the search so that we do not have to ban such a wide
variety or large volume of imports. Of course it is going to be a big
benefit for the whole community.
Reporter: You do not think it will be confusing for some traders even though
they may be wholesalers and retailers at the same time?
Secretary for Food and Health: I think there are always companies actually
doing a bit of retailing or perhaps some retailers are also wholesalers. It
is important that they know how much proportion actually their trade is. We
do not see at this stage that there will be any confusion because most of
the big or medium-sized companies should know their role very well. We are
more concerned about the small ones. The small ones, as I said earlier on,
if they only supply food to perhaps a restaurant or another retailer
actually on an ad hoc basis, then of course they should not be considered as
a wholesaler. It should be still considered as a retailer.
(Please also refer to the
Chinese portion of the transcript)
Ends/Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:25
NNNN