Experience exchange: The Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow (right) meets European Commissioner for Health & Consumer Protection Markos Kyprianou.

The Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow has visited the European Commission and a number of Belgian government departments responsible for food-safety management and healthcare services on his arrival in Belgium.

Dr Chow was on the second leg of his duty visit to Europe which covers the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.

Dr Chow has met with the European Commissioner for Health & Consumer Protection Markos Kyprianou, and gave an account of the proposed mandatory nutritional labelling law and the consideration for trans-fat food control in Hong Kong.

The Commissioner agreed to Dr Chow's request to draw up a mechanism between the European Commission and Hong Kong to facilitate future dialogue on issues related to food-safety monitoring and infectious-disease control.

Calling at the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain, Dr Chow was given an introduction to the food-import safety and market-supply regulation, monitoring and control system.

A meeting with the Belgian Federal Public Service of Health, Food Chain Safety & Environment afforded Dr Chow a good understanding of the Belgian healthcare system, which relies heavily on social insurance and offers patients a free choice between the public and private sector for medical-care provision.

On a stopover in Brussels, Dr Chow took the opportunity to pay a courtesy call to the Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Zhang Qiyue.