Safe Living
65. A quality city life is not only about the natural environment, culture and creativity, but also a safe and worry-free living environment. Thanks to our outstanding disciplined services, Hong Kong's law and order has been well maintained with low crime rates over the years. There is, however, a threat which has caused grave concern in the community, namely, food safety. Ensuring food safety will be a priority.
(1) Food Safety Bill: I will introduce a Food Safety Bill to provide for a comprehensive registration scheme for food importers and distributors. Under the scheme, importers and distributors will be required to maintain proper transaction records of imported food, so that in the event of a food incident, the sources and points of sale of the food concerned can be traced by the Government swiftly and thoroughly. Under the new legislation, when public health is under serious threat, the authorities will be empowered to require all wholesalers and retailers to stop selling and recall the food concerned. We expect to submit the proposals to this Council by year end. The Bill will be introduced in the 2008-09 legislative session after a consultation exercise.
(2) Food safety standards: In parallel with reforming the food safety regulatory regime, we will formulate a set of comprehensive and clear food safety standards for Hong Kong. We will conduct a series of reviews and take reference from the food standards drawn up by the Codex Alimentarius Commission jointly set up by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation of the United Nations. Based on reviews, we plan to submit to this Council recommendations on the control regimes on residues of agricultural pesticides and veterinary drugs in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
(3) Nutrition Labelling Scheme: In addition to ensuring food safety, we will enact food labelling legislation to help consumers make informed choices and protect their health. The new requirement for labelling food additives and allergens on pre-packaged food came into effect in July this year. Drafting work will soon be completed for regulations on the Labelling Scheme on Nutrition Information for pre-packaged food. We plan to introduce the amendment bill into this Council early next year.
