Voluntary Notification Scheme For Meat Importers To Hong Kong

Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety is going to launch a pre-statutory voluntary notification scheme for game, meat and poultry meat importers and distributors on August 1.

"The Government is drafting a food safety bill. The new food safety legislation will introduce new concepts and principles, which include clearly defining the food safety requirements and responsibilities of food business operators," a CFS spokesman said in a prepared statement.

One of the new measures is to require local food importers and distributors to enroll with the CFS to facilitate the identification of the importers and distributors, tracing the source of food and taking follow-up action in case of any food incident.

"Before the enactment of the new legislation and the mandatory notification scheme coming into force, we will introduce the Pre-statutory Voluntary Notification Scheme for Food Importers and Distributors to enable the trade to become familiar with the future mandatory notification requirement," the spokesman said. "It will also help us identify the food importers and distributors so that we can enlist their support and co-operation in the event of a food incident."

As a start, the CFS will, from August 1, accept notification from game, meat and poultry meat importers and distributors. They are encouraged to notify the CFS of their business registration number, address, telephone number and person-in-charge.