HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 2 November 1988
一九八八年十一月二日
香港立法局
33
MR. PETER WONG: Sir, I concur with the Secretary's remarks that prevention is better than cure. And in respect of co-operation, may I point out that there is a precedent from Moslem countries placing inspectors in lamb producing countries to ensue that the lambs are slaughtered in the proper manner. Cannot a similar set of procedures work in co-operation with the Chinese authorities?
SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE: I will refer Mr. WONG's suggestion to my colleague, the Secretary for Municipal Services.
MR. MCGREGOR: Sir, could the Secretary advise whether the facilities exist at the border for checking on this pesticide and if so how long each check might take, in other words, how quickly could the check be carried out?
SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE: Sir, the facilities to test the vegetable for pesticide residues do not exist at the border. Tests have to be carried out in the Government Laboratory by government chemist. I am told that in normal circumstances it takes between five to seven days for the results of tests to be known and that each day the Government Laboratory, because of other priorities, can only do ten tests. But in an emergency, for example, last Friday and Saturday they were able to do 88 tests and produce results in 24 hours.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
8. Dr. LEONG asked: Regarding the Second Periodic Report by Hong Kong under Article 40 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (set out at Annex F of the Second Report of the United Kingdom to the United Nations Human Rights Committee submitted earlier this year), will the Government inform this Council why Hong Kong's Report failed to mention the "false news" provision in the Public Order (Amendment) Ordinance which was passed in March last year?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: Sir, under Article 40 of the covenant, parties, when requested by the Human Rights Committee, are required to submit reports on the measures they have adopted which give effect to the rights recognized in the covenant. This has now been done by the United Kingdom in respect of Hong Kong and other dependent territories.
The reports on Hong Kong will be considered tomorrow by the Human Rights Committee as part of its hearings presently taking place in Geneva.