January 4, 2011

Hong Kong receives first chilled beef consignment from China

The first consignment of chilled beef imported from the Mainland China, weighing about nine tonnes, arrived in Hong Kong Friday (December 31).

A spokesman for the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said that on arrival at the Man Kam To FoodControl Office, the consignment was inspected immediately to ensure food safety.

"Samples were collected from the consignment for testing of veterinary drug residues including beta-adrenergic agonists (so-called leanness-enhancing agents), antibiotics and hormones," the spokesman said.

The chilled beef could only come from registered plants on the Mainland where slaughtering and meat processing procedures are strictly monitored. Each imported consignment must also be accompanied with a health certificate issued by the Mainland authorities, he added.

The CFS of the FEHD has been accepting applications for import of chilled beef from the Mainland since December 7.

Under the arrangement agreed by the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and the CFS, stringent control measures have been implemented to ensure that the imported chilled beef is safe for consumption.

Up to December 30, the FEHD had received 20 applications for permission to import chilled beef from the Mainland, of which 18 have been approved and two are being processed.

Apart from seeking import permission, importers should apply to the FEHD for an import licence for each consignment of imported meat. As at December 30, the department had received eight applications for importing chilled beef from the Mainland, of which three have been approved and five are being processed.

"The import of chilled beef from the Mainland not only increases food sources so as to diversify food types, it is also conducive to further stabilising the supply of beef in Hong Kong, thus maintaining food prices at a reasonable and stable level," said the Permanent Secretary for Food and Health (Food) Marion Lai, at the ceremony of the first consignment of Mainland chilled beef imported into Hong Kong at Nanshan agricultural products wholesale market in Shenzhen earlier.