Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ2: Arrangement for import of chilled beef from the Mainland
Following is a question by the Hon Tommy Cheung and a reply by the Secretary for
Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (February 16):
Question:
Some members of the trade have pointed out that it was originally thought that
the introduction of mainland chilled beef to Hong Kong early this year would
offer the public one more choice of lower-priced meat products and help counter
inflation, but in the past one and a half months, the importer concerned
imported a limited quantity of Mainland chilled beef on each consignment and
only supplied the chilled beef to supermarkets and a few restaurants, which not
only disappointed many members of the public, meat retailers and restaurants who
could not purchase chilled beef, it has also, as at to date, failed to have the
slightest alleviating effect on the price of fresh beef. In this connection,
will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the total number of applications for import licences for chilled beef
received by the authorities since the introduction of Mainland chilled beef; and
among them, the number of importers and wholesale quantities involved; the
number of applications which eventually succeeded in importing chilled beef and
wholesale quantities involved, as well as the respective numbers of supermarkets
and retail shops which have been supplied with chilled beef;
(b) whether it has looked into the reasons why only one chilled beef trader has
obtained the approval of the Mainland authorities for exporting chilled beef to
Hong Kong during the past one and a half months; if it has, of the reasons; if
not, whether it will reflect to the Mainland authorities the keen local demand
for chilled beef, with a view to expediting the relevant application process and
increasing the relevant supply, so that chilled beef will be available for sale
at more retail outlets in Hong Kong; and
(c) whether it knows the existing number of slaughtering and meat processing
plants on the Mainland which have obtained approval for exporting chilled beef
to Hong Kong; whether the number of such plants will be increased in future in
order to increase the supply of beef to Hong Kong and alleviate the price of
beef; if so, of the relevant timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Since Hong Kong is a city which relies heavily on imported food, the policy
objective of the Government is to maintain an open market and to ensure food
safety. The major task of the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) is to ensure the
safety of food for sale in Hong Kong. To this end, we strive to facilitate the
sale of food which meets hygiene standards from all over the world by
formulating relevant hygiene standards and maintaining an open and competitive
market. Food price has always been determined by a free market. It is the
Government's responsibility to improve market transparency and enhance market
efficiency so as to allow consumers to make a wise choice.
The FHB has also been proactively broadening food sources with a view to
diversifying food types. For example, the FHB and the State Ministry of Commerce
reached an agreement in 2007 that the market for supplying live pigs to Hong
Kong should be opened up, and introduced two more live pig agents. In the past
few years, the supply of live pigs from the Mainland has remained stable with
some 4,500 pigs imported into Hong Kong every day. Moreover, starting from 2006,
Mainland chilled pork has also been imported into Hong Kong. Last year, about
18,200 tonnes of Mainland chilled pork was imported, representing an increase by
17% as compared with that in 2009. As regards the supply of beef, the number of
live cattle imported from the Mainland was around 28,000 heads last year, which
was about the same as in 2009. Starting from December 2010, local importers may
import chilled beef from the Mainland. This arrangement not only provides more
food choices for the general public, but also helps maintain food prices at a
reasonable and stable level. Detailed response to various parts of the question
is set out as follows:
(a) The FHB reached an agreement with the State General Administration of
Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) on the arrangements for
the import of chilled beef from the Mainland into Hong Kong in early December
last year. Stringent control measures are implemented to ensure that imported
chilled beef is safe for consumption. The Food and Environmental Hygiene
Department (FEHD) has been accepting applications for the import of chilled beef
from the Mainland since December 7 last year. Local importers may negotiate with
the relevant Mainland enterprises direct and the Government does not set a quota
for the amount of beef imports.
As at February 14, 2011, the FEHD has received and approved 10 applications for
import licence to import chilled beef from the Mainland, involving three import
companies and the total weight of over 100 tonnes. As at to date, only one
company has imported chilled beef from the Mainland which was shipped in three
consignments totalling around 56 tonnes. We understand from the importer
concerned that the first consignment of Mainland chilled beef was supplied to a
major local supermarket chain whereas the second and the third consignments were
supplied to two major local supermarket chains.
(b) The Government's policy is to ensure that food imported into Hong Kong meets
relevant hygiene and safety standards. Other supply arrangements and the
relevant details are matters of commercial decisions of the market. Since an
agreement has been reached between the FHB and the AQSIQ on the arrangement for
import of chilled beef from the Mainland and the requirement for the inspection
and quarantine of chilled beef, local traders may negotiate and deal with the
relevant Mainland enterprises direct for the import of chilled beef after
applying to the FEHD for an import licence in accordance with the law.
The FEHD has relayed to the AQSIQ the trade's keen demand for chilled beef from
the Mainland and has received a positive response. The AQSIQ has asked the
inspection and quarantine authorities in the Mainland to recommend more chilled
beef production enterprises.
(c) To ensure food safety, all chilled beef imported from the Mainland must come
from processing plants registered for the processing and export of chilled beef
under the AQSIQ. These processing plants are recommended by the AQSIQ to the
FEHD, with further on-site and audit inspections conducted by FEHD staff to
ensure compliance with the relevant requirements before the chilled beef is
exported to Hong Kong. At present, the chilled beef processing plant on the
Mainland eligible for exporting to Hong Kong is an enterprise in Changchun,
Jilin Province, and is the largest company supplying chilled beef in the
country.
Given that the import of chilled beef from the Mainland is a new arrangement, we
expect that it would take some time for the market to assess the supply and
demand situation. If local demand for Mainland chilled beef is on the rise, it
is believed that under the lead of the market, more eligible processing plants
in the Mainland will apply to the AQSIQ for processing and supplying chilled
beef to Hong Kong.
Ends/Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Issued at HKT 13:24
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