ENG-2002 — Page 229

FOOD SAFETY, ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE, AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES

During the year, 97 443 and 39 154 vehicles carrying food (vegetables and other food) and live food animals (pigs, cattle and poultry) were inspected at the Man Kam To Food Control Office and 269 790 blood and 71 689 urine samples were taken for testing for diseases and veterinary drug residues as prescribed by the law.

The department continued to be active in promoting the adoption of the Food Safety Plan (FSP). This is a proactive food safety assurance model based on the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. In 2002, a Food Hygiene Campaign which included seminars, workshops, and roving exhibitions - was launched to introduce to the public the concept of risk and risk management in the preparation and production of food, and promote the application of the FSP in enhancing food safety.

In addition, the department continued to provide the public and trade with the most updated information on genetically modified (GM) food through various channels including seminars, roving exhibitions, pamphlets and the department's website. To assess the likely economic impact of introducing a GM food labelling scheme in Hong Kong, the Government commissioned a consultant to conduct a regulatory impact assessment study in 2002. Results of the study will be taken into account before the Government decides on the way forward regarding GM food labelling.

Enhanced Measures Against Avian Influenza

During the year, the AFCD banned direct sales of poultry from farms to markets to prevent viruses from being carried back to farms through the movement of people and equipment. A number of additional biosecurity measures were also imposed to prevent viruses from spreading to farms and between farms. These included requirements for farmers to install a disinfecting bath or other disinfecting equipment at the farm gate, segregate the chicken production area from the area for feed delivery and storage, separate different batches of chickens, and assign designated areas for loading chickens for sale to markets.

To arrest the infection cycle of the avian flu virus, the FEHD has designated a monthly 'rest day' at live poultry retail outlets, during which all trading in live poultry is suspended to facilitate thorough cleansing and disinfection of these outlets. Prior to the 'rest day', all live poultry kept at the retail outlets has to be slaughtered.

Later in the year, the department imposed additional conditions on operators of fresh provision shops and market stalls selling live poultry in order to restrict the sourcing of live poultry to the wholesale markets managed by the AFCD or other approved sources. The conditions also prohibit operators from keeping live poultry on a 'rest day' and require operators to report immediately to the FEHD any case of an abnormal number of deaths among their poultry. Upon the FEHD's notification that an H5 avian flu virus has been identified in a swab from a dead or dying chicken collected from the premises, operators have to slaughter immediately all their live poultry and cease business until the premises have been cleaned and disinfected to the FEHD's satisfaction. Besides this, the department strictly enforced a condition aimed at over-stocking to ensure that chickens were not kept for too long at retail outlets.

Import of Mainland Chilled Chickens

The Mainland resumed the export of chilled chickens to Hong Kong in December. The FEHD had stipulated stringent requirements and conditions for compliance by

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