Speeches
Speech by SFH on Management System of Food Safety in Hong Kong (with photo)
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow,
on "Management System of Food Safety in Hong Kong" at the High Level
International Food Safety Forum held in Beijing today (November 27):
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Food paradise and challenges
----------------------------
I am most honoured to be invited to this International Food Safety Forum and
to speak on this important and timely subject of food safety. In this
session, I would like to share with you how food safety is managed in Hong
Kong.
Hong Kong is a blessed place. We are part of China and this has provided us
with security of food supply, both before and after our reunification with
the Mainland China in 1997. Even today, the Mainland remains the biggest
supplier of food for Hong Kong. Under One Country, Two Systems, the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region enjoys a high degree of autonomy, while
being part of China. This means we have our own autonomy and responsibility
to maintain and develop our legal, monetary, immigration and administrative
systems, including the management of export, import and safety of goods and
foods.
Translated into food safety control, such a high degree of autonomy means
that it is necessary for Hong Kong to set its own food safety standards and
administer its own control regimes to meet the needs and suit the tastes of
this Asia's World City renowned for its gastronomical variety and supremacy.
We take huge pride in Hong Kong being a gourmet paradise. Its streets are
lined with restaurants competing for customers with their cuisines
originating from every corner of the globe, from Beijing to Paris, from
Tokyo to Sydney, from New York to New Delhi. An apple on a supermarket shelf
in Hong Kong may literally come from almost anywhere in the world.
We greatly value our food variety that comes with a free port, but food
safety is the priority. Maintaining such foodstuff variety thus poses huge
challenges. Hong Kong is a land of only about 1,000 square km, but it is
home for seven million people. Our agriculture sector is small. More than
95% of Hong Kong's food comes from outside Hong Kong. More than 20 million
tourists have already visited Hong Kong so far this year. And hundreds of
thousand of expatriates of various ethnic origins call Hong Kong their home.
These figures speak volumes about the importance of keeping food safe and
maintaining a wide variety of food for everyone's enjoyment.
Overall approach
----------------
In rising to these challenges, we are guided by the principle of
transparency and priority is accorded to consumer information and
protection. This is no easy task for any government in this internet age
where citizens, more often than not, learn news faster than governments.
Hong Kong, free from the trade and agricultural obligations of legitimate
concern to many countries, can afford to tackle this issue purely from a
food safety angle and to treat all our trading partners equal. The question
is how.
The answer is the application of the risk analysis principle promulgated by
Codex Alimentarius Commission, i.e., an integration of risk assessment, risk
management and risk communication. The instrument is Hong Kong's Centre for
Food Safety which was set up in May last year to pool government resources
to tackle food safety issues head-on and to galvanise different segments of
the community - the trade and consumers alike - to accord priority to food
safety.
Risk assessment
---------------
Risk cannot be eradicated altogether, ever. But risk can be predicted and
managed through assessment. The Centre for Food Safety is constantly
vigilant, monitoring food incidents of concern to Hong Kong, whether these
take place locally or elsewhere in the world. The Centre assesses, on a
daily basis, the local impact of all food incidents identified, and responds
instantly to minimise any impact on local health. Particular attention is
paid to food at higher risks, such as fresh meat and poultry, by requiring
import licences or health certificates. This assessment is hard science. But
for the assessment to be effective, it is necessary to factor into local
consumers' demand and expectations, and this goes beyond science.
Risk management and control
---------------------------
This brings us to risk management and control. Hong Kong is always lauded as
a place where the East meets the West and modernity blends with tradition.
While each of us in Hong Kong has more than one mobile phone on average, the
community clings to a traditional way of food sourcing that dates back to
thousands of years ago in the long history of the Chinese nation. We like
fresh produce, so much so that our folks still prefer selecting a live
chicken in a wet market, having it slaughtered and taking it home to cook.
Seafood is fresh in Hong Kong only if the fish, prawns, crabs or clams are
literally "alive, well and kicking". Pork and beef sells much better if it
comes from pigs and cattle slaughtered on the same day.
Biosecurity
-----------
The Hong Kong community's penchant for fresh produce, however, poses a
challenge to food safety authorities, but this is managed through an
elaborate food safety system. Local chicken farms are permitted to operate
in this international financial centre, but only if the strictest
bio-security measures are taken, including vaccination and complete
segregation of chickens from other poultry or birds. Live chickens are
imported from the Mainland, with 20,000 live chickens crossing the border
into Hong Kong every day. This has not spread disease because the chickens
come from designated, registered farms where, again, bio-security measures
reign supreme.
Public health is not left to chance and there is continued vigilance against
avian flu risks, with random blood and faecal tests conducted at the border
control points for these chickens. Live chicken sales are stopped twice a
month and during such market rest days, major clean-ups of all the chicken
shops are carried out to break the cycle of viral growth. This is a measure
recommended by WHO for areas prone to avian flu risk. All of these measures
have proved to be effective. Since 2003, Hong Kong has been free from avian
flu outbreak despite many incidents within the Southeast Asian region.
Backyard chicken
----------------
We cannot afford to be complacent, especially when it comes to pushing the
boundaries of modern hygiene and tradition. Backyard chicken keeping was
banned through legislation in early 2006, eliminating, once and for all, a
hotbed of potential avian flu in a city environment. This caused some outcry
among villagers, but we bit the bullet and put food and public safety first.
With much persuasion, our community accepted the change and the Legislative
Council eventually passed the legislation.
Poultry slaughtering facilities
-------------------------------
A central slaughtering plant for poultry is now planned in Hong Kong, to
minimise human-avian contact. This, in turn, will further reduce the risk of
an avian flu outbreak. This risk management and control tool is proving a
challenge to set up, I must admit. The proposal has been subject to heated
debate within our community. On returning to Hong Kong from this forum, I
will be making my case to them again, to introduce a bill to get the project
off the ground. But I am confident that our community will lend its support.
Worldwide headlines was made in 1997 when unfortunately an avian flu
outbreak took lives in Hong Kong. The community knows this simply cannot be
allowed to happen again, even at the expenses of ancient tradition.
Registered farm
---------------
Success in keeping avian flu risk at bay cannot be forthcoming without the
staunch support of the authorities in Mainland China, our host today. On
this occasion, I would like to put on record our heartfelt gratitude to
them, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine (AQSIQ) in particular. We have collaborated with the Mainland
authorities to ensure food safety at source. As I mentioned earlier, there
are designated farms in Mainland China registered with the authorities for
exporting live chickens to Hong Kong. This registered farm system now
extends to all livestock, fish, vegetables, fruits and eggs. When traders
bring these products to Hong Kong, they must show their health certificates
or their equivalents issued by the Mainland authorities. Regular and spot
checks and inspection of these farms are conducted to ensure compliance with
bio-security measures. We have signed Memoranda of Understanding with the
Ministry of Health and the AQSIQ of the Mainland on these measures and
related matters.
RFID
-----
Technology helps a lot in food safety. The Mainland authorities are
pioneering the use of a radio frequency identification system to enable
tracing of live pigs exported to Hong Kong. This involves putting an
electronic ear tag onto every live pig exported for Hong Kong's consumption.
If any health or veterinary hazards are identified in these pigs, the source
can immediately be traced to the exporter and way back to the farm itself,
and the relevant authorities can be informed so as to take action.
International Co-operation
-------------------------
Notification also plays an important role in food safety management. To
tackle food safety issues that may have cross-boundary implications, close
relationships and frequent communications with various ministries and
authorities on the Mainland are maintained. Notification arrangements on
food safety issues have been put in place with overseas authorities such as
those in Australia, the European Union and the United States.
A close liaison is also maintained with international partners such as WHO's
International Food Safety Authorities Network, to exchange food safety
information, to enable us to have prompt access to the latest information
and technology worldwide, and to improve collaboration among food safety
authorities at a global level. Hong Kong taps into the best brains worldwide
through the appointment of overseas food experts, as our advisers. Where
necessary, the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety would instantly relay food
risk information gathered through these channels to the community.
The Centre for Food Safety also contributes research data unique to our
region to the WHO's Global Environmental Monitoring System - Food
Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Programme (GEMS/Food) network,
enriching their database for better safeguard against unsafe food.
Food surveillance
-----------------
Food surveillance is of critical importance too. Hong Kong has adopted a
risk-based approach to determining the types and number of samples to be
collected for testing, and the frequency of testing. Every year, the Centre
for Food Safety takes 65,000 food samples, from the import, wholesale and
retail points of the food supply chain. The Centre has recently adopted a
target-specific approach. Routine surveillance on various hazards across a
wide range of food commodities is conducted. There is also targeted
surveillance of topical issues and seasonal surveillance of seasonal and
festive food products. The surveillance results are released in a timely
manner for informed choices by consumers and for improvements in trade
practices.
Food safety bill
-----------------
For food authorities to manage food safety effectively, a sound legislative
framework is essential, and we are presently drawing up new food safety
legislation. Under the new law, there will be a mandatory registration
scheme for food importers and distributors so that we will know who sells
what. The law will also require food importers and distributors to keep and
produce trade records on the movement of food to enable effective food
tracing, in the event of food incidents. The new legislation will also
empower the food safety authority to prohibit the import and sale of the
food items, or recall of foods if they pose serious hazards to public
health. These measures will help keep the Hong Kong community safe from
harmful foods.
Food standards
--------------
Robust food safety standards also play an important role. The existing food
standards on veterinary drug residues, food preservatives and colouring
matters are being reviewed, along with new standards on pesticide residues.
The goal is to ensure that there is a comprehensive and up-to-date set of
food safety standards that are in line with international standards and suit
the circumstances of Hong Kong.
Risk communication
------------------
Risk, when not communicated well, can be magnified and distorted, causing
false alarm and even public panic. Transparent, open and quick information
is key to effective risk communication, particularly in this
information-obsessed age. The public demands quick answers to questions on
risk factors and risk levels. In a food scare, food authorities must tell
the public if a problematic food item poses immediate risk or just potential
risk, and the probability of facing such risks.
To enable rational public responses to food incidents, food authorities must
educate the public to be informed and wise consumers through releases of
real-time information. In a food incident, good use of the media and the
internet is made for prompt announcement and to give consumer advice. The
source of the food is traced and samples taken for testing. Timely, accurate
and user-friendly information has proven effective in preventing
overreaction by the public.
Tripartite collaboration among government, the trade and consumers is of
utmost importance if we are to succeed to protect the public from unsafe
food. The food industry has a primary responsibility to ensure the food they
import, handle and sell is safe, while food authorities need to avoid
overbearing rules and laws. The Hong Kong food authority works with the
trade as partners during formulation of new measures, whether to regulate or
facilitate the trade.
We also call upon consumers to exercise common sense in making food choices.
Wise and responsible consumers will no doubt avoid food from unknown or
dubious sources. Illegal import of food is off-limits to them as this is no
good to public health and law enforcement is strict. There is a vigorous
public education programme on this too. New labeling laws enabling the
consumer to make informed choices about food with additives and allergen are
already in place. Nutrients labeling is the next target to further
facilitate consumer choices.
Conclusion
----------
Ladies and gentlemen, we are incessantly deluged with food incidents day in
and day out. Food scares seem everywhere. But at the same time, there has
never been a higher public expectation and a stronger international
consensus on the need to keep food safe. Today's forum is a testament to
this common wish.
Crises always come with opportunities, and we, as food authorities, should
seize the moment to strengthen international cooperation on food safety.
Globalisation crosses, blurs and sometimes eliminates our boundaries in food
safety. We live in the same global village, and our fate is tied and shared.
Different food authorities react differently to food incidents, and the news
reaches every corner of our global village. More often than not, the
communities would over-react, causing panic and some confusion to the global
villagers, and resulting in huge economic losses for both the producing and
importing countries. As a city that depends on food imports for survival,
Hong Kong looks forward to more common science-based international food
safety standards for a wider application across the globe. Codex clearly can
play a stronger role in this aspect.
Clearly, individual food authorities have a vital role to play too. It would
also be much easier for each food authority if there were an international
common platform for an electronic health certificate system enabling food
tracing with laser precision.
With such a system for realtime tracing, authorities can predict food issues
before they occur, and food incidents could be resolved within hours, rather
than days. Only one consignment of the food could be affected, rather than
the whole trade. Only one consumer or one cluster of consumers could be
affected, rather than the whole population.
A common format and common platform for electronic health and food safety
certification can greatly minimise economic, political and health damages
caused by food safety incidents. I would like to appeal to all ministers and
national food authorities here to take this as our common goal.
Hong Kong is now moving towards this direction. We are devising a set of
food standards and making the best use of electronic food tracing system. We
are learning from the best international practice and are more than willing
to contribute to it in the strengthening of international co-operation.
Thank you.
Ends/Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Issued at HKT 11:23
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(Photo)