Pesticide regulation gazetted

May 04, 2012

The Government today gazetted the Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation. The move is to upgrade the regulatory control of pesticide residues in food.
 
The regulation will be tabled at the Legislative Council on May 9 for implementation on August 1, 2014.
 
The Food & Health Bureau said under the current Public Health & Municipal Services Ordinance, there is no specific legal provision that regulates the level of pesticide residues in food.
 
To better protect public health, facilitate effective regulatory control and promote harmonisation between local and international standards, the Government proposes to make the regulation change under the Public Health & Municipal Services Ordinance.
 
The regulation defines "pesticide" and other related terms in a way consistent with the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the international food standard setting authority. It also adopts codex's classification of foods.
 
To allow sufficient time for the trade to comply with the regulation, there will be a grace period of two years prior to its implementation, during which the Centre for Food Safety will provide briefings, training and guidelines for different sectors.