Press Releases
Food, health and quarantine annual meeting held in HK (with photo)
The two-day Guangdong, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Macao Health, Animal and
Plant Quarantine and Food Safety Control Meeting started in Hong Kong today
(June 21) to further promote the co-operation of the five places in health,
animal and plant quarantine and food safety through exchange and discussion
among experts.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the Secretary for Health, Welfare and
Food, Dr York Chow, noted that atypical pneumonia, highly pathogenic avian
influenza and malachite green incidents underlined the importance of
gate-keeping work of health, inspection and quarantine as well as food safety.
Dr Chow said Guangdong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Macau and Hong Kong were close
neighbours with heavy volume of passenger and freight flow between these places.
With further development in regional economic co-operation, the Mainland, Macau
and Hong Kong had to further strengthen cooperation on this front.
He added that sound foundation had been laid in co-operation in health, and
inspection and quarantine of the five places in the past few years. In-depth
exchange and co-operation were realised in the prevention of avian influenza,
refinement of food safety regulatory regime and port health incidents.
He expected that through exchange among experts, the technical standard of
health, animal and plant quarantine and food safety could be raised to
facilitate the implementation of health and food safety regulatory measures and
further refinement of existing co-operation mechanism and information exchange.
"To ensure the safety of Mainland food for supply to Hong Kong, we have to exert
our best efforts to perform gate-keeping work by control at source and stringent
inspection and quarantine before export," he said.
Topics of discussion in the two-day meeting included inspection and quarantine
on health, fruits and vegetables, aquatic products, plants, animal and food
livestock as well as the management of food safety of poultry eggs, laboratory
standard and technicality.
The Hong Kong delegation is represented by the acting Permanent Secretary for
Health, Welfare and Food, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing; the Director of Food and
Environmental Hygiene, Mr Eddy Chan; the Director of Health, Dr Lam Ping-yan;
the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation, Mrs Stella Hung; the
Controller of Centre for Food Safety, Dr Mak Sin-ping; and Government Chemist,
Dr Ting Tai-lun.
Also joining the meeting are the Director-General of the Import and Export Food
Safety Bureau of the State General Administration of Quality Supervision,
Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), Mr Li Yuanping; Deputy Director General of
the Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Dr Huang Weiming;
Deputy Director General of the Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine
Bureau, Mr Qu Haifeng; Deputy Director General of the Zhuhai Entry-Exit
Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Mr He Hongkai; Vice Chair-Woman,
Administration Committee, Civic Municipal Affairs Bureau, Ms Cecilia Cheung, and
Head of Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Tong Ka-lo, of the Macao
Special Administrative Region Government.
Ends/Thursday, June 21, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:30
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(Photo)