ENG-2013 — Page 206

9

Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries

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 2013, 23 food trade associations and some 1,660 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 185 health talks on food safety during the year. It also deployed two vans to broadcast food safety messages in housing estates and markets and launched a series of food safety promotion activities under the slogan 'Make a Wise Food Choice! These activities aimed to ensure food safety by encouraging good food-buying habits, such as sourcing food from reliable suppliers and choosing food according to one's health condition. The CFS also continued to promote nutrition labelling and the wider use of nutrition labels to help people make suitable food choices.

Measures against Avian Influenza

Government measures to keep avian influenza (Al) at bay include stringent monitoring of the poultry supply chain from farm to retail levels, vaccination of chickens against H5 Al and close surveillance of imported and local birds in Hong Kong.

Under an agreement with the Mainland, all poultry (except pigeons) imported from registered farms must be vaccinated against H5 Al, commonly known as bird flu. Every live poultry consignment bound for Hong Kong must be tested negative for Al before being released for sale. Government veterinarians also inspect registered farms in the Mainland to ensure their compliance with the bio-security requirements so that the imported poultry are safe for human consumption.

Keeping chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, quails and other poultry in backyards is prohibited in Hong Kong. Offenders are liable to a maximum fine of $100,000. Owners of racing pigeons are required to hold exhibition licences. Pet bird traders are required to submit official health certificates to the health authorities, or documents such as invoices showing the places of origin of their birds, or the names and addresses of their suppliers. Sale of birds from unknown sources is prohibited. Bird traders must also keep up-to-date records of their transactions and the number of birds in their possession.

All live poultry in public market stalls and fresh provision shops must be slaughtered by 8 pm every day. Live poultry are not allowed in these premises between 8 pm and 5 am the next day. Live poultry retailers must ensure that people working in retail outlets wear protective clothing and report immediately to the FEHD any dead poultry found. They must not overstock live poultry on their premises and must affix acrylic panels to their poultry cages to prevent direct contact between customers and the poultry. They are also responsible for preventing customers from touching live poultry.

To monitor Al effectively, samples are collected regularly for testing from poultry farms, wholesale and retail markets, from healthy, sick or dead birds, and from birds kept in recreation parks, pet shops, and from wild birds in wetlands and elsewhere. The government also provides

162