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are still applying for licenses. Therefore, I think that in issuing food factory licenses, we should follow the current practice of issuing food premises licenses by the 3 departments, namely the Urban Services Department, the Buildings Department and the Fire Services Department. They should make a preliminary inspection on the factory concerned and if the condition is satisfactory, a license should be issued as soon as possible. If the condition is not satisfactory, the factory concerned should be notified immediately so that it can make improvement as quickly as possible.
As regards the Nestle Dairy Farm incident, the food factory has not been issued with a license for a considerable period of time. There must be a reason for the problem though we do not know what it is. We are not certain whether the problem lies in the production lines, the structure of the premises or the fire installation. We are wondering why these products are sold in the market. This is a strange and bewildering situation. On the one hand, the factory is not licensed and on the other hand, its products are sold in the market. Therefore, we think that relevant regulations must be reviewed. Moreover, according to current regulations, the Urban Services Department could inspect factories which are applying for a license every 2 months and the unlicensed factories once a month. With the highest penalty of $25,500 fine and 6 months imprisonment only, the deterrent effect is indeed inadequate. Besides, from our past experience, offenders are seldom sentenced to imprisonment. Therefore, the Democratic Party thinks that these loopholes really need our consideration and attention.
Regarding other problems relating to loopholes in regulations and the existing mechanism, I will leave that to another Member of the Democratic Party, Mr. CHAN Kwok-leung who will explain to us later. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I beg to move.
Mr. Chiang Sai-Cheong (in Cantonese):—Mr. TANG is well-prepared and the views he expressed already included the matters that I'd like to bring out. Because of time constraints, I hereby fully support him and second the motion.
MR. CHAN KWOK-LEUNG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, recently there were incidents of sour-tasting drinks and the breaching of food hygiene regulations. If we do not review the loopholes of legislation and the complicated relationship among the law enforcement bodies, it could be envisaged that similar incidents will continue to recur. Recent incidents are related to various food hygiene regulations, including Section 52 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance which controls the sale of food the quality of which is different from the original one; Section 59 of the same principal ordinance which empowers the enforcement authority to seize and recall products which are harmful to human beings; Food Business (Urban Council) By-laws and Milk (Urban Council) By-laws that empower the enforcement authority to issue license and control unlicensed production; and Food and
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