Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ11: Restrictions on bird's nest products entering Mainland
Following is a question by the Hon Shiu Ka-fai and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today
(June 14):
Question:
According to the Catalogue of Animals and Plants, and Animal and Plant Products
Prohibited from being Carried or Posted into the People's Republic of China
which came into effect on March 2, 2012, bird's nests are prohibited from being
carried or posted into the Mainland. In addition, there are also restrictions on
the quantity of daily necessities and health food products that may be carried
into the Mainland by travellers of Chinese nationality, and the relevant quotas
have not been raised since 1996. Some members of the retail industry have
relayed to me that such restrictions have significantly impacted on the shopping
and spending behaviour of Mainland residents in Hong Kong. In this connection,
will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has enquired with the Mainland authorities about the reasons for
and the situation of imposing the aforesaid restrictions;
(2) whether it assessed in the past five years the impact of such restrictions
on the retail industry of Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons
for that;
(3) as some members of the retail industry have pointed out that since the
Mainland authorities signed agreements with the Malaysian and Indonesian
authorities in 2013 and 2014 respectively to allow the import into the Mainland
of Malaysian and Indonesian bird's nest products which meet the relevant
inspection and quarantine requirements, it is quite meaningless for the Mainland
authorities to enforce the ban on the carrying of bird's nests from Hong Kong
into the Mainland, whether the Government will discuss with the Mainland
authorities the following issues: (i) lifting the restriction on carrying bird's
nests from Hong Kong into the Mainland, and (ii) formulating, by making
reference to the export of bird's nests from Hong Kong to places such as Europe
and North America, a set of entry quarantine arrangements for the import of
bird's nests, which are acceptable to the Mainland authorities, the Hong Kong
Government and the retail industry; if it will not, of the reasons for that; and
(4) whether it will request the Mainland authorities to raise, in light of the
present robust economic development on the Mainland and the increase in the
purchasing power and needs of the Mainland residents, the quotas, and the
applicable ceiling values for such quotas, for daily necessities and health food
products which they may carry into the Mainland; if so, of the details; if not,
the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
In consultation with the relevant policy bureaux and departments, I provide a
consolidated reply to the various parts of the question as follows:
(1) According to our understanding, the Mainland authorities revised the
“Catalogue of Animals and Plants, and Animal and Plant Products Prohibited from
being Carried or Posted into the People's Republic of China” in 2012, for the
purposes of preventing animal and plant diseases and pests from spreading into
the Mainland and protecting the production of agriculture, forestry, animal
husbandry and fishery as well as public health and safety. The animals, plants
and their products prohibited from being carried or posted into the Mainland
include, among others, live animals (except cats and dogs), meat and its
products, eggs and egg products, bird's nest (except canned bird's nest) and
fresh fruits and vegetables. This restriction applies to all persons entering
the Mainland from various countries or regions.
(2) The Government has not conducted any assessment of the impact of the trade
of bird's nests or related trade restrictions imposed by other places on our
retail industry. According to the statistics of the Census and Statistics
Department, edible bird's nests accounted for 0.03 per cent of the total value
of Hong Kong's external merchandise trade in 2016.
(3) and (4) Bird's nest products include raw bird's nests and ready-to-eat ones.
All raw bird's nests are imported, while some bird's nest products are processed
or treated in Hong Kong for exportation to other places or for local sale. As
for the exportation of bird's nest products to places such as the United States
and Canada, exporters apply to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation
Department for the Sanitary Certificate for Products of Animal Origin as
required by the exporting destinations.
The requirements set by the Mainland for importation of bird's nests are
different from those adopted by other places. The Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region Government is in active discussion with the Mainland
authorities on the inspection, quarantine and health requirements for exporting
relevant products from Hong Kong to the Mainland, and consensus has been reached
on some basic principles. Announcements will be made to the trade in due course
when the discussion bears fruit.
The entry requirements on Mainland visitors imposed by the Mainland authorities
are applicable to all visitors entering the Mainland from various places across
the world (including Hong Kong). We will continue to keep close track of the
latest development in this respect.
Ends/Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Issued at HKT 13:10
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