The Government has prepared legislation for the recall of problem food, says the Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow, adding its scrutiny is near completion and he hopes it can be enacted as soon as possible.

Speaking at the Legislative Council 's special finance committee meeting today, Dr Chow said they are working on a comprehensive food safety bill to boost consumer protection. 

The priority tasks also include a mandatory registration scheme for food importers and distributors, and a requirement for food traders to maintain proper records on the movement of food.

Impact assessment planned

Dr Chow noted that different food trades have specific needs and trade practices. To weigh the implications, the Food & Health Bureau has appointed a consultant to assess the food safety bill's impact on business.

The bureau will brief the LegCo panel on the results and introduce the bill in the first half of the next legislative session.

Dr Chow strongly supports the move to have food importers and suppliers engage private laboratories to conduct tests of their foods before putting them on market shelves. 

The Innovation & Technology Commission will provide private laboratories with better and more efficient accreditation services. The Government Laboratory will also outsource more of its regular food surveillance testing work.

Poultry slaughtering centre

A poultry slaughtering centre is expected to come into operation in 2011-12. The bureau plans to submit the relevant legislation in the first half of the next legislative session.

The Government's policy is to implement central slaughtering as early as practicable to achieve complete segregation of humans from live poultry, to prevent the spread of avian influenza.

The bureau is pressing ahead with the preparatory work concerned, including the statutory processes such as the environmental impact assessment and land-use rezoning.