Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ7: Protection of animal health and welfare

Following is a question by the Hon Claudia Mo and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (May 11):

Question:

On July 8, 2014, the Food and Health Bureau briefed the relevant Panel of this Council on legislative proposals on enhancing the regulation of animal trading, including the breeding and selling of dogs by amending the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Animal Traders) Regulations (Cap. 139 sub. leg. B), with a view to promoting animal health and rights. At the meeting, some members pointed out that the proposed threshold for application for animal breeder licences was too low, making it easy for commercial breeders to conduct illegal animal trading activities under the disguise of private animal owners, and I also suggested that the authorities should standardise the various types of animal breeder licences. It is learnt that the authorities have finalised the drafting of proposed amendments to the aforesaid Regulations and will soon introduce them to this Council. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) given that at the aforesaid meeting, I moved a motion to call upon the authorities to consider afresh the issuance of a standardised licence with a high threshold instead, and the motion, albeit not being passed, was supported by five members, how the authorities respond to my motion and how they react to the objections raised by some stakeholders against the proposed licensing regime;

(2) as some animal rights organisations are worried that the monitoring role of this Council will be undermined if amendments to the Regulations are subject to "negative vetting" procedure, whether the authorities will consider adopting the "positive vetting" procedure in proposing amendments to the Regulations; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3) as the authorities have indicated that additional resources and manpower have been earmarked to cope with the law enforcement work upon implementation of the new regulatory framework, of the details of the resources and manpower concerned; and

(4) whether the authorities will regularly review the manpower deployment so as to ensure that there is adequate manpower for handling the existing work on protection of animal rights, and at the same time for coping with the additional law enforcement work upon implementation of the new regulatory framework?

Reply:


President,

In response to public concern about animal health and welfare issues related to the sale and breeding of animals, the Government has proposed to amend the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Animal Traders) Regulations (Cap. 139 sub. leg. B) to strengthen the regulation of animal trading and dog breeding activities.

My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:

(1) In October 2012, the Government conducted a two-month public consultation on the proposals to better regulate animal trading for enhancing animal health and welfare. The main proposals included: (a) introducing a new system of licence/permit to tighten the regulation of dog breeders and traders; (b) increasing the penalty levels provided in Cap. 139 sub. leg. B; and (c) empowering the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation to revoke animal trader licences under certain circumstances. At its meeting in April 2013, we reported to the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene (Panel) the outcome of the consultation, as well as the Government's response and proposals. Members expressed different views on the proposals at the meeting. Some animal welfare organisations and stakeholders of the animal trading and breeding sector also raised further views on the proposals. After the meeting, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) revisited the proposed measures and the legislative proposals in the light of the views conveyed by the Panel Members, and communicated with animal welfare organisations, animal breeders/traders and other parties concerned.

Having considered the issues raised by the Members, the Government briefed the Panel again in July 2014 on its views and response.

A licensing regime will give an anchoring point for AFCD to carry out inspection, promotion and education work concerning dog breeding activities. We consider it more appropriate to set up a two-tier licensing regime. Most of the small-scale breeders already in existence (sometimes referred to as "hobby-breeders" or "home-breeders") keep their dogs as pets and live with them in a household. With a pragmatic threshold, such breeders would not have any excuse not to apply for a licence. It might not be reasonable to require them to construct kennels and other facilities for accommodation of dogs at the same standard as those imposed on commercial breeders. By implementing a two-tier licensing regime, we are placing the breeding activities of such hobby-breeders under regulation, thereby offering better protection to the welfare of dogs. If there is only one type of animal breeder licence applicable to all licensees, the hobby-breeders may be discouraged from coming forward and it may even drive such breeding activities underground, increasing the level of difficulty in AFCD's regulatory work.

The Government notes that different stakeholders may have different views on the proposed amendments. Some groups/individuals consider that animal health and welfare can be better protected by strengthening the regulation of animal trading and dog breeding activities. They support the early introduction of the legislative proposals. After taking into account the views of various parties, we believe that the current proposals serve the aim to promote animal health and welfare, and strike an appropriate balance between the protection of animal welfare and the interests of pet owners and animals traders. The Government has accordingly initiated the relevant legislative process. The Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Animal Traders) (Amendment) Regulation (Amendment Regulation) is expected to be tabled before the LegCo in the second half of May 2016.

(2) The Amendment Regulation is a piece of subsidiary legislation made by the Chief Executive in Council by virtue of the power conferred under section 3 of the Public Health (Animals and Birds) Ordinance (Cap. 139). According to provisions under section 34 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1), such subsidiary legislation is subject to the negative vetting procedure. In accordance with the relevant procedure, the subsidiary legislation will be published in the Gazette and then laid on the table of the LegCo at the next sitting immediately after it is published in the Gazette. Not later than 28 days after that sitting, the LegCo may amend the subsidiary legislation by resolution at its sitting. Meanwhile, before the expiry of the scrutiny period of any subsidiary legislation, the LegCo may extend the scrutiny period by passing a resolution at its sitting. The scrutiny period of the subsidiary legislation tabled may be extended to the twenty-first day from the original expiry day or the first LegCo sitting held after that day.

The Government will proceed with the amendment exercise in accordance with the established legislative procedures.

(3) and (4) To cope with the anticipated increase in workload, an additional provision of $3.6 million annually has been earmarked for the creation of seven permanent civil service posts in AFCD (including one Senior Field Officer, two Field Officers I and four Field Officers II), for the purpose of discharging duties in relation to the licensing of animal trading activities and enhancing the relevant control measures after commencement of the proposed Amendment Regulation.

AFCD will devise an appropriate enforcement strategy to optimise the utilisation of its resources. It will also closely monitor the workload and manpower situation after the enactment of the Amendment Regulation and review the resource requirement from time to time.

Ends/Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:53

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