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Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries
Following a fire in Fa Yuen Street in 2011, the FEHD introduced a number of measures to reduce fire risks in fixed-pitch hawker areas, including increased enforcement action and the implementation in November 2012 of a mechanism for suspending or cancelling the hawker licences of repeat offenders.
In September, the Government announced a five-year scheme to provide one-off grants to some 4,300 hawkers in 43 fixed-pitch hawker areas to reconstruct their stalls to specified fire safety standards or to relocate to other pitch spaces to reduce fire risks. An ex-gratia allowance will be paid to hawkers who voluntarily surrender their hawker licences. The scheme will be implemented in mid-2013.
Slaughterhouses
The FEHD oversees the hygiene standards of licensed slaughterhouses in Sheung Shui, Tsuen Wan and Cheung Chau. Meat supplied by the slaughterhouses has to pass inspection by health officials before delivery to markets. During 2012, 40,473 animal health certificates and 9,031 entry permits for local pigs were verified at the slaughterhouses, 55,582 samples of urine and tissue were taken from animals and tested for veterinary drug residues, and 1,638,115 pigs, 25,953 cattle and 9,045 goats were slaughtered.
The FEHD's Intelligence Unit continued to track down vendors selling chilled meat as fresh meat in 2012, and in collaboration with the Customs and Excise Department and the police carried out 45 raids, launched 29 prosecutions and seized 4.8 tonnes of smuggled meat.
Public Education
In 2012, the FEHD's Health Education Exhibition and Resource Centre in Kowloon Park, Tsim Sha Tsui, organised 2,367 health talks for the general public and target groups, including school children, the elderly and ethnic minorities. A motor vehicle is also used as a mobile education centre to help disseminate food safety and environmental hygiene messages.
The CFS's Communication Resource Unit in the Fa Yuen Street Municipal Services Building, Mong Kok, organises food safety programmes and provides technical support to people in the food trade and the public. As of December 2012, 21 food trade associations and some 2,000 food premises and retail outlets had signed up to the CFS's Food Safety Charter, drawn up to promote best practices in handling food.
The CFS conducted 164 health talks on food safety during the year. It also employed two vans to broadcast food safety messages to people in housing estates and markets and launched a series of food safety promotion activities to encourage people to store food at the right temperature. The CFS continued to promote nutrition labelling and the wider use of nutrition labels to help people make suitable food choices.
Primary Production
Hong Kong's agriculture and fisheries industries are relatively small and receive no Government subsidies, but the Government assists them in improving the quality of their output, their
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