Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ11: Illegal import of meat and poultry
Following is a question by the Hon Vincent Fang and a written
reply by the Acting Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Gabriel
Leung, in the Legislative Council today (July 13):
Question:
I have received complaints from the industry about the increasingly
serious situation of people purchasing products or foods (including
vegetables, fruits, eggs and meat that are subject to respective export
and import controls on the Mainland and in Hong Kong) on the Mainland and
then bringing them back, by adopting the "ants moving home" tactics, to
Hong Kong for sale. In this connection, will the Government inform this
Council :
(a) of the respective daily average numbers of Hong Kong residents and
mainland visitors under the Individual Visit Scheme crossing the boundary
via various control points in Hong Kong and Shenzhen in the past 12
months, as well as the percentage changes in each month; whether
statistics have been compiled on the respective numbers of people entering
the territory twice a day or more; whether the authorities will inspect
one by one the items carried by those persons who enter the territory
twice a day or more;
(b) of the measures adopted by the staff at boundary control points to
check whether persons entering the territory bring in items which are
subject to import control (including endangered species, uncooked meat,
birds and vegetables, and eggs, etc.); of the number of persons found by
staff at boundary control points to have brought such items into the
territory last year; of the types, quantities and weights of the items
involved; whether the authorities had instituted prosecution against or
given warnings to these persons, and how the seized items were disposed
of; how the authorities verified claims that such items which are subject
to import control were brought into the territory only for personal
consumption; whether follow-up actions would be taken to find out if these
persons had subsequently put the items on sale; whether they have any plan
to regulate the bringing into the territory by visitors items which are
subject to import control in Hong Kong; and
(c) given that quite a number of members of the public of Hong Kong have
complained that the areas adjacent to MTR stations are often occupied for
use as distribution points for the aforesaid items, thus creating serious
environmental hygiene problems, of the measures the authorities have in
place to deal with the situation?
Reply:
President,
Since Hong Kong imports over 90% of its food, the Government is
committed to enhancing the safety of imported food to protect public
health. The import of game, meat and poultry is regulated under existing
legislation. Under the Imported Game, Meat and Poultry Regulations (Cap.
132AK), no person shall import meat or poultry without an official health
certificate which certifies that the meat or poultry concerned is fit for
human consumption, unless a prior written permission from the Director of
Food and Environmental Hygiene (DFEH) is granted. No person shall import
game or prohibited meat (Note 1) except with a written permission and
subject to such conditions as the DFEH may impose. In addition, under the
Import and Export Ordinance (Cap. 60), an import licence from the DFEH is
required for importing meat or poultry.
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) collects about 65 000 food samples
for testing at import, wholesale and retail level every year. Last year,
the overall satisfactory rate of the food tested under the Food
Surveillance Programme was 99.7%, reflecting that food safety in Hong Kong
is maintained at a high level. CFS will take enforcement action if any
food is found and confirmed to be unfit for human consumption in food
surveillance. Under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance
(Cap. 132), any person who sells any food unfit for human consumption
shall be liable to a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months.
The Food Safety Ordinance (Cap.612), which will commence on August 1,
2011, introduces the food traceability mechanism. It complements CFS'
existing Food Surveillance Programme and will further enhance food safety
by protecting the whole food supply chain.
According to the Food Safety Ordinance, any person who carries on a
business which brings any food into Hong Kong (including any person who
brings food from the Mainland into Hong Kong for sale with the "ants
moving home" tactics) is required to register with DFEH. Since those who
import food from unknown sources usually would not register under the law,
they are liable to the offence of importing food without complying with
the registration requirements.
The Food Safety Ordinance also stipulates that DFEH must keep a
register of food importers and food distributors for public
inspection. The public may therefore inspect the register at any time to
find out the status of their trading partners to avoid purchasing food
from unknown sources, thus protecting consumers and food traders.
In addition, food importers and food distributors must also comply
with the record-keeping requirement as required under the Food Safety
Ordinance (retailers are required to keep food acquisition records
only). Any person whose transaction records do not dovetail commits an
offence. As the records of sellers of food from unknown sources would
unlikely dovetail with each other, the food traders concerned may commit
an offence.
The Food Safety Ordinance also empowers the Secretary for Food and
Health to make regulations for import control on specific food types, with
a view to strengthening the control on food with higher risks. We propose
that the import control be extended to cover poultry eggs and aquatic
products. The proposal on the regulation of poultry eggs has been
submitted to the Legislative Council Panel on Food Safety and
Environmental Hygiene in May this year.
In view of the above, it is therefore clear that the whole food
supply chain is under comprehensive surveillance in the existing food
safety framework, which includes effective measures targeting food
products from unknown sources, thus protecting public health. My reply to
the different parts of the question is as follows:
(a) According to the information provided by the Security Bureau, in the
12 months from July 2010 to June 2011, the respective daily average
numbers of Hong Kong residents and Mainland visitors under the Individual
Visit Scheme crossing the boundary via various control points in Hong Kong
and Shenzhen, as well as the percentage changes in each month are set out
in Annex. The Administration does not compile statistics on the number of
people entering and departing from Hong Kong for multiple times within the
same day.
(b) To interdict illegal import of controlled items by travellers, the
Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) applies the risk management
intelligence-based principle in inspecting travellers and their baggages
with the assistance of advanced equipment. In addition, C&ED works
closely with other law enforcement departments, such as the Food and
Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Agriculture, Fisheries and
Conservation Department (AFCD) in mounting joint operations to inspect
travellers and their baggages, with a view to combating illegal import of
controlled items at various control points. Random inspections on
travellers are conducted by FEHD with the assistance of detector dogs to
combat illegal import of meat and poultry. FEHD also distributes leaflets
and displays relevant posters at the halls of various control points to
remind travellers to abide by the law.
According to C&ED, the categories, quantities or weight of controlled
items, including endangered species, uncooked meat and live animals and
birds seized in the past 12 months at various control points are as
follows:
Category
Quantity/Weight
Endangered species 637 pieces
Uncooked meat 6 847 kilogrammes
Live animals and birds 36 live animals and birds
Upon detecting illegal import of the above controlled items by
travellers into Hong Kong, Customs officers will immediately hand over the
cases and the seizures to the relevant departments for follow-up
actions. Over the past 12 months, FEHD prosecuted 1 491 travellers for
bringing in game, meat or poultry illegally at the various control points
in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and destroyed the food concerned. In the same
period, the AFCD also prosecuted 63 persons who illegally imported
endangered species and forfeited the items concerned in accordance with
the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap.
586).
Under the existing legislation, control has already been imposed on
the import of controlled items into Hong Kong by travellers. Under Section
6(1)(ca) of the Import and Export (General) Regulations (Cap. 60A), the
conditions for articles exempted from application for import licence for
controlled food products (namely, meat and poultry) are as follows:
(i) imported in the accompanied personal baggage of a person entering
Hong Kong;
(ii) for the personal use of that person or is a gift;
(iii) in an amount not exceeding 15 kg; and
(iv) accompanied by an official certificate as defined in the Imported
Game, Meat and Poultry Regulations.
As such, travellers will not be exempted from application for import
licence by solely claiming that the food brought in is for personal
consumption.
(c) FEHD has stepped up street cleansing services as well as law
enforcement action at the public place outside the Sheung Shui Mass
Transit Railway (MTR) Station. If an article placed at public places
causes obstruction to scavenging operations, FEHD will serve upon the
owner a "Notice to Remove Obstruction" in accordance with the Public
Health and Municipal Services Ordinance requiring removal of the article
within a period specified in the notice, failing which FEHD will take
prosecution action. For any person who litters, contravening the Fixed
Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) Ordinance (Cap. 570), FEHD will
issue a $1,500 Fixed Penalty Notice to the offender. During the first
half of 2011, a total of 129 Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued at the
public place outside the Sheung Shui MTR station.
Note 1:
Prohibited meat means any kinds of meat listed below:
(a) Scrap meat, that is to say, meat which consists of scraps, trimmings
or other pieces (whether with or without bone) of such shape or in such
condition as to afford insufficient means of identification with a
definite part of a carcass.
(b) Meat comprising the wall of the thorax or abdomen from which there
has been detached any part of the pleura or (save in the case of meat
derived from a pig) the peritoneum, other than a part necessarily removed
in preparing the meat.
(c) Meat, other than mutton and lamb, from which a lymphatic gland,
except a gland necessarily removed in preparing the meat, has been taken
out.
(d) The head of an animal without the submaxillary gland.
Ends/Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Issued at HKT 19:30
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