HEALTH
Under amendments in 1997 to the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance, all restaurants providing more than 200 indoor seats were required to designate not less than one-third of the area as a no smoking area with effect from July 16, 1999. Outdoor tobacco advertisements were banned with effect from June 26, and tobacco advertising in the printed media was prohibited after December 31.
Government Laboratory
The Government Laboratory provides a wide range of testing services to government departments, and other institutions, for the protection of public health. It has statutory responsibilities under a number of ordinances and regulations.
Food products sampled from the market accounted for 68 000 surveillance tests in 1999. The year also saw several major food safety issues that put the laboratory to the test. The unlawful use of beta-agonists such as clenbuterol and salbutamol in pig feeds resulted in food poisoning cases following the intake of contaminated pork and pig offal. Based on ELISA (immunoassay) techniques, a procedure was developed that made possible the completion of sample processing and analysis within a day, enabling client departments to act promptly. The scare of dioxin-tainted foods imported from some European countries called for the most demanding investigation, as only a handful of laboratories world-wide are competent to detect these deadly chemicals down to the parts-per-trillion level. Public concerns were allayed and the food products were released to the market based on laboratory findings which were obtained by staff working round-the-clock shifts for nearly a month.
Pharmaceutical products were tested for compliance with pharmacopoeia or other specifications and Chinese medicines were checked for the presence of synthetic drugs and toxic metals. On a year-on-year comparison, the workload grew by 36 per cent and 80 per cent respectively, reaching 24 000 and 18 000 tests. The year-round cigarette testing programme involving over 15 000 tests for tar and nicotine continued to be an important part of the laboratory's work. Results were published regularly and were used extensively in anti-smoking campaigns.
In order to keep pace with the advancement of analytical science, the laboratory spent $16 million in procurement of analytical instruments during 1999. Towards the end of the year, 24 new laboratory staff were recruited to reinforce the existing programmes and to undertake new commitments, such as the testing of irradiated foods, shellfish toxins, proprietary Chinese medicines and pharmaceuticals available over-the-counter.
Chinese Medicine
The administration introduced the Chinese Medicine Bill into the Legislative Council in February and the bill was enacted in July. The Chinese Medicine Ordinance provides for the establishment of the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong and a regulatory system to control the practice, use, manufacture and trade of Chinese medicine.
The Chinese Medicine Council, comprising members of the Chinese medicine practice and trade, academics, lay persons and government officials, would implement regulatory measures in accordance with subsidiary regulations from 2000 onwards.
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