The FEHD is the licensing authority for food businesses and certain trades in Hong Kong.
Licensing
Restaurants, food factories, fresh provision shops, bakeries, factory canteens, siu mei and lo mei shops, frozen confection factories, milk factories, cold stores and composite food shops are required to obtain licences from the Department.
The Department also issues permits for the sale of restricted foods, such as frozen confections, milk, non-bottled drinks, Chinese herb tea, cut fruit, sushi and sashimi, oysters and meat to be eaten raw, food sold from vending machines, and for operating karaoke establishments in restaurants.
Licences are only issued to food premises which conform to hygiene requirements and safety standards prescribed by the departments concerned.
Trade licences are required for operating places of public entertainment (including theatres, cinemas and entertainment machine centres), commercial bathhouses, private swimming pools, funeral parlours, undertaker businesses, slaughterhouses and offensive trades.
In response to the trade's request, the Department launched in June 2011 a fast-track application process for traders who intend to conduct live broadcast activities at licensed cinemas. The time required for processing and approving applications, which do not involve any structural or layout change to the premises, has been shortened from 20 to eight working days.
Provisional Licences
To facilitate the setting up of food businesses, the Department operates a provisional licence system. Premises that satisfy all essential health, building and fire safety requirements are issued with a provisional licence valid for six months, during which the licensee has to complete all outstanding requirements for the issue of a full licence.
In 2011, the Department received 3,205 applications for provisional food business licences and 2,303 provisional licences were issued. An applicant can obtain a provisional licence from the Licence Issuing Office within one working day if all the essential licensing requirements are met.
Licences Processed and Issued
Licence applications are handled by three licensing offices located on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and the New Territories.
Food business licence applications received and processed during the year totalled 3,260 (including 1,623 for restaurant licences). In addition, there were 893 applications for restricted food permits, 1,558 applications for places of public entertainment licences, and 35 applications for other trade licences.
To cater for the specific needs of the food trade, seminars on restaurant licensing are arranged on a bi-monthly basis for those who have applied for restaurant licences or are considering starting a restaurant business.
Liquor Licences
To sell liquor for consumption on the premises, a licence is required from the Liquor Licensing Board which is an independent statutory body.
The Board normally meets once a week to deal with contested cases. In exercising its statutory powers, the Board regularly reviews the policy governing the issue of liquor licences and the control of licensed premises. The Department provides executive and secretarial support to the Board.
During the year, 930 applications for new liquor and club liquor licences were received and 818 new licences were granted. A total of 5,583 liquor and club liquor licences were renewed.
The Board regularly arranges seminars on liquor licensing to enable applicants and licensees to update their knowledge of the legal liabilities and responsibilities for the proper management of their premises. During the year, 12 sessions were organised for 598 liquor licence applicants and licensees.
Inspections
Health inspectors perform regular inspections on licensed food premises to ensure licence holders comply with licensing requirements and conditions as well as hygiene standards prescribed under the law. In addition to routine inspections, supervisory inspections are conducted by senior officers. Premises issued with trade licences, such as cinemas, commercial bathhouses and private swimming pools, are also regularly checked.
The Department adopts a Risk-based Inspection System to regulate licensed food premises. Inspection frequencies vary according to the risk and hygiene standards of licensed food premises. Inspections focus on food safety and health education, in addition to general sanitary conditions.
Law Enforcement
Food business operators who breach public health laws face prosecution. Under the Demerit Points System, they also bear the risk of licence suspension or cancellation if they breach the law persistently. Under the Warning Letter System, licences may also be cancelled as a result of repeated breach of licensing requirements or conditions.
The Department also cracks down on unlicensed food businesses by taking out prosecution and, for persistent offenders, by summary arrest and applying to court for closure of their premises.
The Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance provides an effective mechanism to close food premises which pose an immediate health hazard to the public. In 2011, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene exercised his statutory power and issued three closure orders against food premises where pathogenic Vibrio cholerae was found in their fish tank water samples.
Statistics on Enforcement Actions against Licensed and Unlicensed Food Premises in 2011
| Licensed food premises | |
|---|---|
| No. of licensed food premises | 23,244 |
| No. of inspections | 206,433 |
| No. of prosecutions | 4,207 |
| No. of licence suspensions | 146 |
| No. of licence cancellations | 18 |
| Unlicensed food premises | |
| No. of prosecutions | 2,935 |
| Closure of food premises | |
| No. of Closure Orders granted | 3 |
Hygiene Manager/Hygiene Supervisor Scheme
The Hygiene Manager (HM) and Hygiene Supervisor (HS) Scheme seeks to strengthen food safety supervision on food premises. Under the Scheme, all large food establishments and food establishments producing high-risk food are required to appoint an HM and an HS. All other food establishments are required to appoint either an HM or an HS. Since mid-March 2011, the Department has been accepting nomination of the same person as the HM or HS for individual licences of those food premises which are under the same licensee and housed in the same supermarket or food court. This new measure can help reduce the business compliance cost.
There are a number of local academic institutions and vocational training centres offering HM or HS courses that are recognised by the Department. The duration of an HM course is about 16 to 20 hours and that of an HS course is about six hours. The Department has been providing free HS training courses for supervisory staff of licensed food premises since December 2001. By the end of 2011, the Department has provided a total of 1,651 courses for 77,584 HSs, while 27,941 HMs were trained by academic institutions and vocational training centres.
Slaughterhouses
Hong Kong's fresh meat (beef, pork and mutton) is supplied by three licensed slaughterhouses in Sheung Shui, Tsuen Wan and Cheung Chau. The Department monitors the operation of the licensed slaughterhouses to ensure hygiene and environmental standards are met and combats illegal slaughtering activities.
To protect public health, all food animals admitted to licensed slaughterhouses are subject to both ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections. These ensure that meat is fit for human consumption before being released for sale in the markets. During the year, the Department mounted 273 raids and surveillance operations on suspected illegal slaughterhouses. A total of 5,293 surprise visits to fresh provision shops and meat stalls were also made to prevent the sale of meat from non-approved sources. One prosecution was taken out against the offender. The Department also keeps a close watch on the malpractice of selling chilled meat as fresh meat.