2010 was a fruitful year for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. Significant achievements and good progress were made in a number of areas of our work.
The Nutrition Labelling (NL) Scheme has been implemented smoothly since July 2010. More than 16,200 prepackaged food products were checked by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) in the first year and an overall compliance rate of 99.3% was recorded. The CFS continued its NL publicity and education campaign, and consumers have become increasingly aware of the importance of using nutrition labels in making healthier food choices.
To proactively assess the potential risk of specific chemicals to public health, the CFS embarked on the first Hong Kong Total Diet Study. The study will provide a scientific basis for formulating food safety strategies, surveillance of food and food products, establishing regulatory standards, etc.
The first consignment of Mainland chilled beef arrived in Hong Kong at the end of 2010 after agreement was reached with the Mainland authorities on hygiene, certification and import requirements, diversifying the sources of our food, providing more choices to consumers and further stabilising local meat supply.
In recognition of its work over the years, the CFS was designated as the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Risk Analysis of Chemicals in Food in October 2010. As a Collaborating Centre, the CFS will continue to do its best to contribute to the international process of building up knowledge and best practices to protect public health.
To encourage alternative ways for handling cremated ashes, we launched a pilot scheme which provides free ferry service to facilitate scattering of cremated ashes at sea. A memorial e-service (memorial.gov.hk) was also introduced to enable the public to pay tribute to their loved ones at any time and from anywhere.
Several new initiatives were rolled out in the year to facilitate the food trade and safeguard food hygiene. They included introduction of a new Composite Food Shop Licence, an online Liquor Licence Processing System, and a legislative provision to prohibit the extraction, supply, delivery and use of seawater from prohibited areas for keeping live seafood for human consumption. The food room area ratio for licensed restaurants and factory canteens was also relaxed.
Several initiatives relating to the management of hawking activities were introduced after taking into account views expressed by the public. Over 200 new fixed-pitch hawker licences were re-issued for on-street vacant fixed pitches and the items permitted for sale by small ice-cream vendors were expanded.
On public markets, to regularise the status of public market stall operators, the Department introduced a one-off tenancy transfer scheme under which eligible persons may apply for taking over the status of a tenant. Also, stalls that had been vacant for at least eight months were let out in a pilot scheme on short-term tenancies at concessionary prices to make better use of these stalls.
The Department was vigilant against mosquito-borne diseases. Mosquito control measures were stepped up immediately following confirmation of local dengue fever cases.
To better monitor the dengue vector and ensure anti-mosquito measures are taken in a timely manner, the Department will widen the scope of the vector surveillance programme to cover more areas and introduce an ovitrap rapid alert system, both effective from 2011.
Looking forward, we are pressing ahead with a number of new initiatives. They include making preparation for implementation of the Food Safety Bill (now Food Safety Ordinance Cap. 612, which came into effect on 1 August 2011) which introduces a food tracing mechanism comprising a registration scheme and a record-keeping requirement; conducting surveys to assess public attitudes and practices regarding NL; and hosting a regional symposium on the theme "From Food Incidents to Crisis Management".
The Department will continue to upgrade cremation facilities to increase the capacity and efficiency of cremation services to meet increasing demand. A total of about 41,000 public niches will be provided at the new columbarium at Kiu Tau Road within Wo Hop Shek Cemetery for use in 2012. The Department will also continue to promote more sustainable forms of handling cremated ashes.
The diversity of the services that we deliver presents challenges to us in a rapidly changing environment. We will strive to provide better services for the people of Hong Kong and keep our programmes under constant review.
Clement Leung
Director
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department