Press Releases
Government special hotline service to stand down
A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said today (May 14) that
the special hotline (3142 2288) set up by the Government to stabilise
supply of powdered formula for infants and young children will stand
down starting from midnight of May 17.
In view of the supply chain failure in the local market earlier this
year, the Government announced on February 1 the setting up of a
special hotline as a short-term measure. The purpose of the special
hotline is to ensure that local parents are able to purchase powdered
formula, thereby protecting the health of their infants and young
children. The hotline has been effective and able to cope with the
peak demand period before the Chinese New Year. It has helped parents
order major brands of powdered formula and allayed their concern.
The measure on regulating the export of powdered formula has been very
effective. Since the regulation came into force on March 1, parallel
trading activities relating to powdered formula have dropped
significantly and the supply of powdered formula has generally become
stable.
The Government has noticed that there has been a constant decrease in
the number of calls received by the special hotline. Since the
regulation on export of powdered formula came into operation on March
1, a total of 343 calls were received until May 13, including 133
purchase orders. On average, the special hotline handled fewer than
five calls and referred fewer than two purchase orders each day.
During the recent Labour Day holiday period in the Mainland, the
supply of powdered formula in Hong Kong was generally stable, and the
usage of the hotline remained at a very low level.
"The special hotline is only a short-term measure adopted in the wake
of the supply chain failure in the market. Since the number of calls
received by the special hotline has significantly decreased and
remains at a very low level, we consider that it is time to stop the
service for better utilisation of resources," the spokesman said.
The spokesman emphasised that the existing services of major suppliers
of powdered formula, including the customer hotlines and online
services, are the most direct channels through which local parents may
order powdered formula.
The Government will continue to closely monitor the supply of powdered
formula in the market. The Government will maintain close contact with
major suppliers of powdered formula and retail representatives, and
has requested them to step up their efforts to improve the supply
chain to ensure an adequate and stable supply of powdered formula for
local infants and young children. They should ensure sufficient local
supply of powdered formula, improve the stock replenishment mechanism,
set up services for advance order of powdered formula at retail
outlets, and provide support to hotlines for taking purchase orders by
ensuring that there is sufficient manpower to handle purchase orders
arising from a surge in demand.
The special hotline has been operated by staff of the Efficiency Unit
since it came into operation. The staff can handle the additional
calls generated by the special hotline on top of the calls received
from 1823. Therefore, no additional manpower and financial resources
are incurred by the special hotline.
Ends/Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:02
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