The Food & Health Bureau today announced that the export control of powdered formula will be maintained.

The bureau made the announcement after completing the review on the export control measure.

The regulation, implemented in 2013, prohibits the export of powdered formula for infants and young children under 36 months from Hong Kong except with a licence issued by the Director-General of Trade & Industry.

Each person aged 16 or above may carry not more than 1.8kg of powdered formula on his or her first departure from Hong Kong within a 24-hour period.

The decision to maintain the status quo was made after listening to the views of the Legislative Council Panel on Food Safety & Environmental Hygiene, the Committee on Supply Chain of Powdered Formula, District Councils and different stakeholders in society.

The volume of powdered formula re-exported from Hong Kong through normal trading activities has increased significantly since the implementation of the export control.

Meanwhile, the number of convicted cases in breach of the export control has remained at about 3,800 per year since 2016.

The bureau conducted market surveys in 2018, covering pharmacies and chain stores selling powdered formula city-wide.

The survey showed that nine times out of 10 fieldworkers were able to buy designated powdered formula products immediately at the randomly sampled retail outlets.

Even when the retail outlets did not have readily available stocks of the designated products, the fieldworkers could buy the same products after visiting one to two retail outlets within a five-minute walking distance on the same day in most circumstances.

The export control has a significant role in safeguarding the stable supply of powdered formula at local retail outlets, the bureau said, adding there are no other measures which can replace it at this stage.