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, 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.
In March 2023, the FEHD implemented two new measures to enhance the food business licensing regime, namely the extensive relaxation of the restrictions on food items sold by Light Refreshment Restaurants (LRRs) and the introduction of a "Professional Certification System" (PCS) as an additional option to the application for a full licence. By the end of 2023, over 580 licensed and newly licensed LRRs had benefitted from the relaxation measure, and six food business licence applications processed under the PCS had been approved.
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.
Applications for the above licences and permits can be submitted online.
Provisional and Full 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.
An applicant can obtain a provisional licence from the Licence Issuing Office within one working day if all acceptable Certificates of Compliance submitted over the counter are received. Upon receipt of the applicant's notification and proof that all outstanding FEHD requirements are fulfilled, the Department will conduct final verification inspection within eight working days, and approval for a full licence will be given within seven working days of the confirmation that the applicant has complied with all the relevant departments' requirements. Choosing to apply for a full licence through the PCS can reduce the application period by about two weeks.
Licences Processed and Issued
Licence applications are handled by three licensing offices of the Department, located on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and the New Territories.
Food business licence applications received and processed during the year totalled 3,238 (including 1,437 for restaurant licences). In addition, there were 2,133 applications for restricted food permits (including 526 restricted food permits for online sale), 3,003 applications for places of public entertainment licences, and 31 applications for other trade licences.
To cater for the specific needs of the food trade, seminars on restaurant licensing are arranged by the Department on a bi-monthly basis for those applying for restaurant licences or considering starting a restaurant business.
Liquor Licences
To sell liquor for consumption on the premises, a licence is required from the Liquor Licensing Board (the 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, 1,097 applications for new liquor and club liquor licences were received and 1,105 new licences were granted by the Board. A total of 6,653 liquor and club liquor licences were renewed. The maximum validity period of a liquor licence is two years.
The Board regularly arranges seminars on liquor licensing covering topics of fire safety, public order and environmental hygiene, to help applicants understand their legal liabilities and responsibilities for the proper management of their premises. During the year, 12 sessions were organised, and 104 liquor licence applicants and licensees attended the sessions.
Inspections
Health inspectors perform regular inspections on licensed food premises to ensure that licence holders comply with licensing requirements and conditions as well as hygiene standards prescribed by 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 by health inspectors.
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 including illegal extension of business area, 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.
Noting that buying and selling of food via the internet or social media platforms have become popular in recent years, the Department has been monitoring online food sale activities. If an unlicensed food business is suspected to be involved in manufacturing and selling online any food, including restricted food items such as meat, milk, sashimi, sushi and oysters to be eaten raw, as well as shell fish such as hairy crab, for human consumption online, or the food is from a suspicious source, the Department will conduct investigations and take follow-up action, including covert operations to collect evidence. Should there be sufficient evidence, prosecution will be instituted. Publicity will continue, in order to increase public awareness of food safety when purchasing food online and remind online food traders to apply for food business licences or permits according to relevant regulations.
The Department is responsible for issuing factory canteen licences and enforcing regulatory control of the factory canteens. A warning letter will be issued to the licensee of the factory canteen if it is observed that the licensing requirements/conditions concerning the display of notices and restriction on the provision of service to factory employees of the same industrial building only has been breached. If there is sufficient evidence on a factory canteen entertaining members of the public, FEHD may consider taking out prosecution against the licensee of the factory canteen for operating an unlicensed restaurant. In 2023, the Department initiated 84 prosecutions against licensees of factory canteens serving the public.
Statistics on Enforcement Actions against Licensed and Unlicensed Food Premises in 2023
| Licensed food premises | |
|---|---|
| No. of licensed food premises | 34,927 |
| No. of inspections | 208,923 |
| No. of prosecutions | 2,546 |
| No. of licence suspensions | 107 |
| No. of licence cancellations | 8 |
| Unlicensed food premises (including unlicensed food premises conducting online food sale activities) | |
| No. of prosecutions | 3,919 |
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. For individual licences of food premises which are under the same licensee and housed in the same supermarket or food court, the Department accepts nomination of the same person as the HM or HS.
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 also provides free HS training courses for supervisory staff of licensed food premises. In 2023, the Department provided a total of 104 courses for 4,877 HSs, while 3,345 HMs and 1,012 HSs were trained by academic institutions and vocational training centres.
Slaughterhouses
Hong Kong's fresh meat (beef, pork and mutton) is supplied by two licensed slaughterhouses in Sheung Shui and Tsuen Wan. The Department monitors the operation of licensed slaughterhouses to ensure that 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 the meat is fit for human consumption before being released for sale in markets. During the year, the Department mounted 12 raids and surveillance operations on suspected illegal slaughterhouses. A total of 3,491 surprise visits to fresh provision shops and market meat stalls were also conducted to prevent the sale of meat from non-approved sources. The Department also watches out for the malpractices of selling frozen or chilled meat as fresh meat and displaying frozen or chilled meat for sale without proper refrigeration.