HK, mainland departments study ways to better food regulatory mechanism

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced on Tuesday it will join the Chinese mainland departments to study ways to better the food regulatory mechanism.

According to news from the Information Services Department of HKSAR government, Hong Kong Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Carrie Yau attended the Inaugural Meeting of Steering Group on Safe Food Supply to Hong Kong held in Beijing on Tuesday.

Speaking at the meeting, Yau said the HKSAR government will review the food regulatory infrastructure and complementary facilities to cope with developments in the testing and regulatory mechanism.

According to Yau, the HKSAR government and its counterparts in the Chinese mainland are considering widening the scope of imported food that needs to be accompanied with health certificates, putting more categories of food under regulation and control, and opening new modes of food testing.

At Tuesday's meeting, Hong Kong health officials told their mainland counterparts that the food safety bill now being drafted will integrate the existing laws regulating food safety.

It will bring under regulation food which has higher safety risk or of wide public concern, including farmed aquatic products, vegetables and fruit. To comply with the legislative requirements, the Chinese mainland and other exporting sources have to provide health certificates for their food supplies to Hong Kong.

The city will also introduce a more comprehensive and clearer subsidiary legislation to impose control on the standard of pesticide residues, Yau said.

Source: Xinhua