1998 — Page 153

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OI 606

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# PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL

law enforcement actions on the processing and sale of food in food premises and food processing factories; to adopt concrete and effective measures to prevent the spread of disease; to step up speedily hygiene inspection and food sampling tests; and to enhance hygiene education for people engaged in the food business, especially food hygiene education for citizens. Moreover, the Urban Services Department should promptly report to the Council on the implementation and progress of these further improvement measures.'

Further still, on the recent issue of Ciguatoxin in fish, the Provisional Urban Council carried my motion as follows: 'Since Hong Kong's imported deep water coral reef fish weighing five kilograms or above are high risk seafood because the Ciguatoxin content in some of them poisoned citizens who had consumed them, of which the cases are on a growing trend, RESOLVED that the Council, together with the Agriculture and Fisheries Department and the Department of Health, adopt contingency measures and study long term solutions (including study on setting up of imports quarantine system for high risk seafood, sale records, collection systems, and actively adopt and employ organisations on science research to develop rapid test medicine and methods etc.) in order to safeguard citizens' health and enable the normal sale of non high risk seafood."

The above motions on food safety are themselves of distributional, scientific and logical nature. All of them were carried after full discussions by fellow Councillors. Afterwards at the stage of implementation of the motions, I also urged government departments concerned to direct improvements in accordance with the motions. As Councillors, we continue to follow up implementation by government departments.

It is beyond doubt and a hard fact that the Provisional Urban Council comprised mainly of democratically elected members has performed an important role in urging Government to strengthen food safety and environmental hygiene work. I have a role to play in urging within the Council for the following new policies and improvement measures:

(1) Implementation of new measures to prevent cross contamination during cattle slaughtering:

(2) Implementation of a new system for recovery of products;

(3) Implementation of a quarantine system for imported poultry and sample testing for H5N1 bird flu virus;

(4) Implementation of a quarantine system for imported pigs and strengthening of sample testing for Beta-agonist;

(5) Implementation of the system of sampling tests, recording and recovery of imported high risk coral fish;

(6) Study on law amendments to authorise the Director of Urban Services to close unlicenced eating houses;

(7) Formation of a working group to study into the setting up of a central licensing unit for the food premises;

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