Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (February 20) that a bottled coconut oil sample was detected to contain a harmful contaminant, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP). Members of the public are advised to stop consuming the affected batch of the product. The trade should stop using or selling the affected batch of the product should they possess it.
      
     Product details are as follows:
      
Product name: Organic Refined Coconut Oil
Brand: Nutiva
Place of origin: Philippines
Distributor/importer: Eastern Zone Co Ltd
Volume: 680 millilitres/23 ounces per bottle
Best-before date: May 1, 2020
      
     A spokesman for the CFS said, “The CFS collected the above-mentioned sample from a supermarket in Sheung Wan for testing. The test result showed that the sample contained BaP at a level of 47 micrograms per kilogram (µg/kg), exceeding the action level of 10µg/kg established by the CFS after consulting the Expert Committee on Food Safety.”
      
     The spokesman said that the CFS had informed the distributor/importer concerned of the irregularity and instructed it to stop sale and remove from shelves the affected batch of the product, and initiate a recall immediately. Members of the public may call the distributor/importer’s hotline at 2965 6422 or 2965 6423 during office hours for enquiries about the recall.
      
     BaP is a kind of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are contaminants ubiquitous in the environment. BaP is toxic to genes and can cause cancer in humans. The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization has classified BaP as “carcinogenic to human”. The intake of BaP should be avoided as far as practicable.
      
     According to Section 54 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap 132), all food for sale in Hong Kong, locally produced or imported, must be fit for human consumption. An offender is subject to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months upon conviction.
      
     The CFS will alert the trade, continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action. Investigation is ongoing.     read more

     The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, welcomed the passage of the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 7) Bill 2018 by the Legislative Council today (February 20).      The … read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Dennis Kwok and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, in the Legislative Council today (February 20):   Question:      Will the Go… read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:      Regarding an earlier announcement on a cluster of patients infected with Influenza A in a female ward for severe intellectual disability, the spokesperson for Siu … read more

     The Education Bureau (EDB) issued a circular memorandum today (February 20) to all public sector schools and Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools to announce the implementation details of the “one executive officer for each school” policy.
 
     An EDB spokesman said, “Starting from the 2019/20 school year, the EDB will provide all public sector schools and DSS schools with resources for hiring additional administrative manpower, enabling schools to review administrative arrangements and requirements, streamline procedures, strengthen administrative support and at the same time reduce the administrative work of teachers and principals, thereby creating room for them to focus more on core education tasks and to take care of student development. The new measure will incur an annual additional expenditure of around $500 million.”
      
     Starting from September 1, 2019, each aided school (including special schools) will be provided with a school executive officer. Schools may, in accordance with their school-based circumstances and needs, opt to create a regular School Executive Officer post in the approved non-teaching staff establishment of aided schools, or to receive the School Executive Officer Grant (SEOG) for the appointment of a full-time school executive officer with a local bachelor’s degree (or equivalent). Schools receiving the SEOG may hire from service providers’ school administrative support service, which should include the provision of at least one full-time school executive officer with a local bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) stationed at school. Government schools, caput schools and DSS schools will also be provided with resources for appointment of additional administrative staff to suitably strengthen their administrative effectiveness.
      
     The main duty of the school executive officer is to supervise and co-ordinate the administrative affairs of the school. The EDB will organise an induction programme for the newly appointed school executive officers of public sector schools. The programme will cover various aspects of school administration, such as school finances, procurement, appointment of staff, assessment of staff salary, handling school complaints, crisis management, and maintenance and safety of school premises. Briefing sessions will also be held to introduce the implementation details of the “one executive officer for each school” policy to schools.
      
     The Education Commission set up the Task Force on School-based Management Policy (Task Force) in November 2017 to study the implementation of the school-based management (SBM) policy in aided schools and, based on the results of the study, recommend support measures for the optimisation of SBM. Among the recommendations, the proposed provision of additional resources for schools to handle administrative work received widespread support from the stakeholders. In view of this, the Government took the Task Force’s advice that this proposal be implemented as soon as possible. The Chief Executive announced the initiative of “one executive officer for each school” in her Policy Address last year. read more