ENG-2013 — Page 203

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Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries

During 2013, the FEHD issued 7,537 full, provisional and temporary food business licences, 658 permits for restricted foods, 1,556 licences for places of public entertainment, 37 licences for other trades, 919 liquor and club liquor licences, and 18 permits for karaoke establishments in premises with restaurant licences.

Since 1 January 2013, the FEHD accepts submission of applications for food business/trade licences and permits through the internet.

Food Safety and Labelling

The FEHD's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) is responsible for ensuring that food sold in Hong Kong is safe and fit for consumption. About 65,000 samples of food were taken at import, wholesale and retail points for chemical, microbiological and radiological testing in 2013. The overall satisfaction rate of these tests was 99.9 per cent.

During 2013, about 32,700 vehicles carrying vegetables, and about 43,000 vehicles carrying live food animals including pigs, cattle, goats and poultry, were inspected at the Food Control Office and Animal Inspection Station at Man Kam To, and about 4,863,200 live food animals were examined and about 50,900 blood and 57,600 urine, faecal and tissue samples were tested for zoonotic disease and veterinary drug residues.

The nutrition labelling scheme requires pre-packaged foods, unless exempted, to carry labels that provide information about energy and specified nutrients, and also specifies the conditions for making nutrition claims. The scheme assists consumers to make informed food choices, regulates misleading or deceptive labels and nutrition claims, and encourages food manufacturers to apply sound nutrition principles in the formulation of foods. In 2013, the CFS conducted visual checks on 5,151 pre-packaged food products to ensure that they complied with the statutory '1+7' nutrition-labelling requirements and took 505 food samples for chemical analysis to verify the nutrition information and nutrition claims. The overall compliance rate was 97.71 per cent.

In January, the government completed a two-month public consultation exercise which found strong support for its legislative proposals relating to formula products and foods intended for infants and young children under the age of 36 months. The government has started drafting the legislation for tabling in the Legislative Council in 2014.

Public Markets and Cooked Food Markets

The FEHD operates 101 public markets (including 25 free-standing cooked food markets) with some 14,400 stalls selling fresh products, cooked food, light refreshments and household items and providing service trades. As at the end of 2013, the occupancy rate at these markets was 90.4 per cent.

In 2013, the FHB commissioned a consultancy study on improvements to the public markets' operating environment, including their functions and positioning, factors affecting their competitiveness, public expectations and ways to retain traditional trades. The consultant is expected to submit preliminary study findings in mid-2014.

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