Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ13: Regulation of lard production plants

Following is a question by Dr Hon Tang Siu-tong and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment and Food, Mrs Lily Yam, in the Legislative Council meeting today (January 23):

Question

Regarding the regulation of lard production plants, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the current daily weight of organic wastes suitable for lard production in the territory and their disposal methods at present, together with the percentage by weight of such wastes which are used for the production of lard;

(b) of the number of lard production plants which currently possess licences for offensive trades and the total number of employees they have, as well as the number of plants which are required to apply for a licence issued under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311) for conducting specified processes;

(c) of the total number of air pollution abatement notices issued to operators of lard production plants in the past three years, the respective numbers of operators prosecuted and convicted for failing to make the required improvements stated in the notices, as well as the penalties imposed by the court on the convicted persons;

(d) whether it plans to designate certain areas for use as sites for lard production plants and require that such plants may only operate on these sites, so as to facilitate the operation of the trade and regulation by the authorities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(e) of the measures in place to eliminate unauthorised operation of lard production plants?

Reply

(a) The Administration does not have data on the weight of organic waste available daily in Hong Kong for lard production or data on how much of such waste is used for lard production.

According to information provided by the trade, lard production plants licensed to perform offensive trades collect about 30 tonnes of organic materials such as fat, skin and viscera of pigs everyday from local fresh provision shops and market stalls. These organic materials are mainly used for lard production. Such organic materials that are not collected by these plants are taken to landfill sites for disposal in the same way as other general waste.

(b) All lard production plants are required under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) to obtain from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) an Offensive Trade Licence. Lard production plants that have a capacity to process more than 250 kg of materials per hour are also required under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311) to obtain from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) a specified process licence.

According to the records of FEHD, four lard production plants have been issued with an Offensive Trade Licence. They employ a total of about 35 workers.

According to the records of EPD, no lard production plant has been issued with a specified process licence under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance. However, EPD is currently processing an application for such a licence.

(c) Over the past three years (between 1999 and 2001), EPD issued three air pollution abatement notices to three lard production plants respectively requesting the operators concerned to take action to abate air pollution. As all the operators complied with the requirements in the notices, EPD did not initiate any prosecution.

(d) In considering an application for Offensive Trade Licence, FEHD will consult all the relevant departments to check that the location of the proposed operation is acceptable from different regulatory perspectives. The arrangement offers the trade greater flexibility as they can pick a location of operation of their choice and apply to FEHD for approval. We therefore do not consider that there is a need to designate an area for lard production and require all lard production plants to be set up in that area.

(e) FEHD attaches great attention to environmental hygiene problems caused by unlicensed food premises and offensive trade workplaces (including lard production plants). It has set up a task force since October 2000 to investigate, collect intelligence and step up raids against unlicensed food premises and offensive trade workplaces. Between October 2000 and December 2001, it brought a total of 19 prosecutions against three illegal lard production plants. For 11 of these, the defendants were convicted and penalised. The other seven cases are awaiting trial.

Moreover, EPD had brought four prosecutions against two lard production plants for conducting specified processes without a licence during the past year. For all these four cases, the defendants were convicted and penalised.

FEHD and EPD will continue to take rigorous enforcement actions against unlicensed lard production plants to safeguard public health and protect the environment.

Wednesday, January 23, 2002