The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) continued its best endeavours in 2022 to safeguard food safety and maintain a clean and hygienic environment for the people of Hong Kong.
Environmental Hygiene
Government Programme on Tackling Hygiene Black Spots
Led by the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, the District Matters Co-ordination Task Force launched the Government Programme on Tackling Hygiene Black Spots in mid-August 2022. The Task Force has steered and co-ordinated the efforts of relevant departments to step up the cleansing intensity in public places. Among the over 650 hygiene black spots announced by the Government, the Department is mainly responsible for 165 hygiene black spots that are mostly located on streets or rear lanes. The clearance of all these black spots has been strengthened. Meanwhile, the Department has also stepped up the cleansing of 394 public venues and places. The overall environmental hygiene has been significantly enhanced.
Shop Front Extension
Combating shop front extension (SFE) is one of the main focuses of the District Matters Co-ordination Task Force. The Department and the Police conducted joint operations against SFE under a new enforcement strategy. Apart from stepping up prosecution against the offenders, obstructive items illegally placed on streets were removed, thereby increasing the shop operators’ cost of non-compliance. By the end of 2022, the FEHD and the Police had mounted a total of 662 new mode of joint enforcement operations, and the SFE situation in black spots of various districts had remarkably improved.
Rodent prevention and control
The Department introduced comprehensive enhancements to rodent prevention and control work in the second half of the year, including setting up 19 overnight rodent control teams to carry out overnight rodent control operations in all districts since July 2022, as well as putting in place a number of control and prevention measures in over 100 priority rodent black spots in the territory since October 2022. The Department also took a proactive role in the Cross-sectoral Territory-wide Anti-rodent Action which was launched by the Government on 28 December 2022. With the adoption of a multi-pronged approach, the number of live rodents caught by the Department during the second half of 2022 was 27,728, an increase of around 57% over that in the first half of the year (17,694), and around 50% more than that in the corresponding period in 2021 (18,459).
Mosquito prevention & control
The All-out Anti-mosquito Operation was carried out since 10 March 2022, with a view to eliminating potential mosquito breeding places and minimising the density of adult mosquitos. An inter-departmental Anti-mosquito Campaign was launched in three phases in 2022.
In 2022, the Department’s anti‑mosquito teams conducted 825,930 inspections of likely mosquito breeding spots and eliminated 72,252 breeding places. No local case of dengue fever was recorded during the year.
Public Markets and Cooked Food Centres
The Department is working with other government departments to take forward six new public market projects, which are at different stages of planning, in Tin Shui Wai, Tung Chung Town Centre, Tseung Kwan O, Tung Chung New Town Extension, Kwu Tung North New Development Area (NDA), and Hung Shui Kiu/ Ha Tsuen NDA. The Sunlight Market (formerly known as Tung Chung Temporary Market) located at Fu Tung Street in Tung Chung are nearing completion and can open in end March 2023.
Besides, the Department is pressing ahead with six overhaul or redevelopment projects under the Market Modernisation Programme (MMP), namely Aberdeen Market, Lai Wan Market, Ngau Tau Kok Market, Kowloon City Market, Yeung Uk Road Market and North Kwai Chung Market. The Aberdeen Market, the first project to be completed, can reopen in end April 2023. In addition, the Department has embarked on minor refurbishment or improvement works to upgrade the facilities of 16 markets, of which the works of 14 markets have been completed, and the works and relevant preparatory work of the remaining two markets are underway, with completion expected in phases in or before 2024.
Hawker management
In mid-2022, there were 105 vacant hawker pitches suitable for re-allocation to eligible applicants on the waiting list 84 hawker licences had been issued by the Department to successful applicants by the end of 2022.
Public toilets
The Government announced in 2022 Policy Address to expedite public toilet refurbishment or facelifting projects of the Department. In 2022, 48 public toilets were refurbished/ facelifted, including six public toilets at major tourist spots. Another 173 projects are in progress or being planned. The next goal is to progressively commence the remaining projects for about 430 public toilets yet to be refurbished or facelifted in the territory from 2024 to 2028.
The Department actively explores the use of new technologies to improve the hygiene of public toilets. The new "Smart Public Toilet System" was first introduced and piloted in two public toilets since May 2021, and was progressively further tested in another 11 public toilets since the third quarter of 2021. The enhanced "Smart Public Toilet System" can be applied at refurbished or newly built public toilets with higher ultilisation rates according to actual needs.
C&C services, Green Burial and Private Columbaria
The Department has been actively promoting a more environmental friendly and sustainable means of burial by encouraging the public to adopt green burial to scatter ashes of their ascendants in its 13 Gardens of Remembrance or in designated Hong Kong waters. There were 1,012 cases of scattering ashes at sea and 7,695 cases of scattering ashes in the Gardens of Remembrance in 2022.
The Department manages six government crematoria, 10 public cemeteries, 11 public columbaria, two keeping facilities and one cremation facility for abortuses for the provision of cremation and burial services to the public. Among them, the Home of Forever Love, the pioneer cremation facility dedicated for abortuses of less than 24 weeks' gestation, was commissioned on 26 September 2022. The construction works of 25,000 niches at Cape Collinson Road were largely completed in December 2022, while that of 40,000 niches at Shek Mun are underway, and are expected to be completed in mid-2025.
In response to the surging demand for cremation services since the advent of the fifth wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Department acted promptly to keep the five crematoria in operation around the clock and advanced the commissioning of two new cremators at Wo Hop Shek Crematorium to early April, ensuring sufficient cremation sessions were available for booking. The FEHD also proactively co-ordinated the supply of coffins when local suppliers have experienced difficulties in getting coffins from the Mainland due to the COVID-19 epidemic situation.
During the year, the Private Columbaria Licensing Board (Licensing Board) approved one licence application and one exemption application; gave approvals in principle for two licence applications, two exemption applications and 42 applications for temporary suspension of liability (in addition to the above cases), and refused applications for specified instruments from three private columbaria. As at the end of 2022, 205 applications for specified instruments submitted by 87 private columbaria were being processed by the Licensing Board.
Food Safety
Food surveillance and risk assessment
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) takes food samples at different stages of the supply process, from import and manufacture to wholesale and retail, for testing. In 2022, about 63,800 food samples were tested. The overall satisfactory rate was 99.8 per cent, which was comparable to the results in recent years. Food safety has been maintained at a high standard in Hong Kong.
The CFS released the results of several risk assessment projects, namely "Changes in Nitrate and Nitrite Levels of Cooked Vegetables during Storage", "Microbiological Quality of Sandwiches" and "Sodium Content in Dim Sum".
Food Standards
One of the initiatives set out in the Policy Measures of the Chief Executive's 2022 Policy Address was to review and update in phases the food safety legislation relating to additives in food to further enhance food safety. The first phase covered preservatives and antioxidants in food. The CFS reviewed the Preservatives in Food Regulation in 2022, making reference to the standards of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the regulatory arrangements of the Mainland and other major food trading partners as well as took into account dietary practices of the local population.
In addition, the CFS has preliminarily completed the review of regulatory standards for residues of veterinary drugs in food under the Harmful Substances in Food Regulations (Cap. 132AF).
Risk Communication
The Harmful Substances in Food (Amendment) Regulation 2021 (the Amendment Regulation) was passed by the Legislative Council in July 2021. The Amendment Regulation will come into force in two phases - for the provisions relating to specifying partially hydrogenated oil as a prohibited substance in food and the related marking and labelling requirement to come into operation on 1 December 2023, and all other provisions came into operation on 1 June 2023. The CFS has been communicating with food businesses on the Amendment Regulation through publicity materials and meetings with the trade.
The CFS started its year-round Food Safety Day 2022 campaign in June under the theme “Clean Hands Well to Eat Well”, reminding the food trade and the public that good hand hygiene is the single most important thing one can do to help reduce the spread of infections along the food chain.
Food Trader Portal
The online services of the Food Trader Portal have been further extended to cover export-related services in March 2022. Food traders can apply for Health Certificates for Foods of Animal Origin and Food Inspection Certificates, and make payment of the related application fee online.