Food safety: Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong pays a visit to the Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market. He says the Government will implement a voluntary accreditation scheme for seawater suppliers early next year.

A voluntary accreditation scheme for seawater suppliers will be implemented early next year to help ensure the quality of fishtank water by encouraging self-regulation, Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong says.

Speaking to the media after visiting the Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market today, Dr Yeoh said the Government has attached great importance to the control of fishtank water quality for protection of public health.

Keeping seafood in filthy water is harmful to public health and will not be tolerated, he added.

Under the proposed accreditation scheme, seawater suppliers will have to meet criteria in areas such as source of seawater, filtration and disinfection systems, equipment cleansing and maintenance schedules, seawater sampling and documentation before they can attain accreditation status from the accrediting body.

Logo would identify accredited supplier users

Restaurants that purchase seawater from accredited seawater suppliers may put a logo on their premises, making known to customers that their seafood is kept in clean water.

He said the Government will develop further details of the scheme and consult the trade and the Legislative Council later this year.

The target is to launch the scheme in early 2005, he said.

"I wish the trade and the public will join hands with the Government to ensure the quality of fishtank water. This tripartite effort will go a long way in upkeeping Hong Kong's brand name as a gourmet paradise," Dr Yeoh said.

Reviewing the work done in enhancing the quality of fishtank water, Dr Yeoh pointed out that the Government has, in the past year, put in place a series of measures in this regard such as the regularisation of live fish wholesaling activities in late 2003, which brought 18 live fish wholesalers at Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter under the permit system of the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department. 

Other measures included the provision of treated seawater by the Fish Marketing Organisation at Aberdeen at cost for fish traders/wholesalers since early August and the new risk-based surveillance programme for fishtank water implemented by FEHD since early this year.

System helps identify problems early on

This new system provides an early signal to premises with deteriorating fishtank water quality or failing disinfection systems so that remedial measures can be taken in a timely manner.

All five incidents of vibrio cholerae in fishtank water discovered so far this year were detected by this ongoing surveillance programme, signifying the effectiveness of the enhanced monitoring system.

"Apart from the ongoing surveillance of fishtank water at the wholesale and retail levels, we see a need to control the quality at source," he said.

LegCo to be consulted

He said the Government is also studying legislative proposals to prohibit the abstraction of seawater from coastal areas.

"We aim to consult the Legislative Council in the coming session. All these efforts demonstrate the resolve of the Government to further strengthen the control of fishtank water quality to ensure food safety," Dr Yeoh said.