Speech by PSFEH at Global Lecture Series on

Using Technology to Enhance Food Traceability on 4 April 2007

Distinguished guests and dear colleagues,

It gives me great pleasure to join you here at this session of the Global Lecture Series today. Today is an important gathering for me because it gives me an opportunity to address the very people who are fundamental to improving the safety of food for the people of Hong Kong, in other words, you.

Well, I trust we have all been given lots of food for thought by the presentation of Mr Suen, Mr. Miyachi and Mr. Morooka this afternoon. Their speeches all pointed to the very critical facts that there will be more and more advances in Information Technology in the future.  But what does this tell us?

The message is clear: Information Technology is changing the way we manage food safety all over the world and we all need to embrace the changes.

We are now witnessing a most profound and dynamic changing world and no industry is changing more rapidly than the food safety industry.  Food grown in one country can now be produced, transported and consumed halfway across the world. People are demanding a wider variety of foods than in the past, including those foods that are not in season.

The role of international produce is especially relevant in Hong Kong, whose consumers rely on over 90% of their food being imported.  For example, do you know that Hong Kong imports apples from over 15 different countries? Whilst this results in a wider variety of high quality foods being accessible and affordable, even improving our nutritional status and health, it also presents new challenges for safe food production and distribution and to those of us who monitor the food industry.

These global changes in the food trade have pushed the development of a more integrated and preventive approach within food safety systems.  It requires us to fundamentally change our thinking from a reactive approach, i.e. responding to food incidents only after they have taken place, to a preventive approach and tackling the issues before they become a problem.  And this is where Information Technology can help you.

Don’t think of IT as something to be wary of.  Think of it as merely as the most recent tool in our arsenal.

IT advances can assist us by, for example, aiding in the checking of the source of food products imported into Hong Kong, For example, New Zealand has been using electronic health certificates, or E-Certs, since 1999.  E-Certs were introduced for a number of reasons;

-                   Firstly, they would help guard against fraud. With the E-Certs coming direct from the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, we can be confident of their authenticity

-                   Internationally, there is a growing trend to do away with cumbersome paper documents especially for commercial transactions

-                   It was thought that it would eventually reduce the cost of certification and the error rate. This has since been proven to be true.

-                   E-certs allow Governments to respond rapidly to changing market requirements. You don’t need to go and re-print paper certs.

Another example where IT can assist us is the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The RFID can assist us in fulfilling one other major principle of food safety control, which is traceability. No doubt you are aware that we need to consider all aspects of the food production chain as a continuum from and including primary production up to and including the supply of food to the consumer because each element in the chain can have a potential impact on food safety. Traceability allows us to implement more focussed measures by identifying the problem area early.  It also helps to remove contaminated goods from the market place, a requirement sorely tested in recent months! RFID allows you to check the origin of live food animals instantly. In addition RFID technology allows automated data input freeing up valuable staff hours for more consumer-oriented tasks.

The new Central Slaughtering Poultry Plant will be fully computerised to make full use of IT and allow you to trace the source and whereabouts of individual birds and products.

Well, I have talked to you about IT advances as well as advances and shifts in the principles of food safety control but how can I expect all this of you unless I give the appropriate tools to complete your tasks? The answer is of course, I cannot, and that is why I am here today to tell you that education and training and support from your department in this endeavour is of utmost importance. I want you all to be highly trained in the latest technological advances, to be familiar with the latest principles and to be ready to impart this knowledge to our stakeholders.

Remember, the Health Inspector (HI) grade was one of the earliest in the Civil Service to re-open recruitment after the recruitment freeze. We know how important the work you do is. Look at the success we have had in keeping Dengue fever and avian influenza away from our shores. These are successes that you have helped us achieve.  So apart from taking home some of the things you have learnt today – food traceability, 2 dimensional code/QR code etc, I ask that you do three things for me.

       Firstly, you need to build a new brand name for the Centre for Food Safety and FEHD.  You must be known as a ‘Can-Do’ department in the eyes of the public.

Secondly, you need to be proud of your department, of belonging to the largest civilian department in the civil service. Your work is directly related to livelihood issues of everyone in Hong Kong.  How much more important can the work of a civil servant get?

Thirdly, are we or more precisely are you ready to embrace these fundamental changes that signal to the public the importance we place on the safety of their food? We need to embrace change at all levels and management will help empower you to do your tasks.

That’s why I urge you to tell us what you need from us to do your job.

If you think a handheld device with restaurant details and inspection checklists will be useful to your daily work, tell us.

If you think a tablet PC with layout plans of food factories where you can make notes and amendments at the site and then come back and upload all the data automatically loaded onto a computer will save time, tell us.

Remember IT is not just for the young; it is not an insurmountable barrier. Anyone can use IT. We can work smarter with fewer resources. Treat this as a type of business re-engineering. Our motto could even be ‘Do more with Less!’.  By “less” I mean less layer, less paper work, less bureaucratic procedure, less time.

At the bureau level, we are willing, dedicated to and keen to review your training and even the re-structuring of your grade to enable you to do your work more efficiently.  Take a look at DH, for example and the Centre for Health Protection. In just a few years they have re-invented themselves, they have created a well-known brand name for CHP that instils trust in eyes of the public. To do likewise, we need to re-create ourselves, we need to embrace change and adopt new core values in the way we do our jobs and we need to be committed to creating an efficient, transparent, and trusted food safety service.

I wish to thank the organizers for holding this Global Lecture Series.  I thank you for your patience for being so attentive notwithstanding the language barrier.  I am party to advocating this new series.  Frankly, we were afraid that people would be quite put off by having to attend a lecture conducted in Japanese.  But with popular T.V. series like “Shiroi Kyotou” and Japanese stars like Kimura Takuya attracting Hong Kong fans, we have decided to give it a try.  This large turnout today is quite unexpected.  Your keen participation is most encouraging for us.  I hope when we host the second series, you would give us the same support.

Thank you