The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (June 29) announced that a trace amount of metabolite of furazolidone (a type of nitrofurans) (AOZ), a non-permitted veterinary drug, was found in a sample of frozen tiger prawn imported from India. Follow-up is in progress.
      
     Details of the product are as follows:
      
Product name: TIGER PRAWN Peeled & Deveined, Tail On
Product brand: ocean gems
Place of origin: India
Importer: Indoguna Lordly Company Limited
Packing: 1 kilogram per pack
Best-before date: March 3, 2020
      
     A CFS spokesman said, "The CFS collected the tiger prawn sample at import level for testing under its routine Food Surveillance Programme. The test result showed that it contained AOZ at a level of 21 parts per billion."
      
     The CFS has informed the importer concerned of the irregularity and the importer had stopped selling the affected product. The CFS is tracing the source and distribution of the affected product.
      
     "The JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives) considered that competent authorities should prevent residues of furazolidone in food," the spokesman said.
      
     The CFS will alert the trade to the incident, continue to follow up and take appropriate action.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (June 29) announced that two prepackaged dried mushroom samples were detected with cadmium, a metallic contaminant, exceeding the legal limit. The CFS is following up on the cases.

     Details of the products are as follows:

(1) Product name: Dried Mushroom
     Product brand: Herbary Health
     Place of origin: Japan
     Packer: Herbary Health Food Co Ltd
     Net weight: 500 grams per pack
     Best before date: December 31, 2019

(2) Product name: Mushrooms
     Product brand: Not available in English
     Place of origin: Taiwan
     Sole agent of Hong Kong and Macau: Chopsticks Company Ltd
     Net weight: 70 grams per pack
     Best before date: October 20, 2018

      "The CFS collected the two dried mushroom samples from a supermarket in Admiralty and an online shop respectively for testing under its routine Food Surveillance Programme. After applying the conversion factors for dried foods as recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the results showed that the samples contained cadmium at levels of 0.18 parts per million (ppm) and 0.162 ppm respectively, exceeding the legal limit of 0.1ppm," a CFS spokesman said.

     "The CFS has informed the vendors concerned of the irregularities and instructed them to stop sale and remove from shelves the affected batches of the products. The CFS is tracing the source of the affected products."

     According to the Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) Regulations (Cap 132V), any person who sells food with metallic contamination above the legal limits is liable upon conviction to a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months.

     "Based on the levels of cadmium detected in the samples, adverse health effects will not be caused under usual consumption," the spokesman said.

     The CFS will alert the trade to the incidents, continue to follow up and take appropriate actions. Investigation is ongoing.

     The Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Mr Hermes Tang, signed a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with the Acting Comptroller of the New Zealand Customs Service, Ms Christine Stevenson, in Brussels, Belgium, yesterday (June 28, Brussels time) during the 132nd Council Session of the World Customs Organization.

     Under the MRA, the Hong Kong Authorized Economic Operator (HKAEO) Programme and the New Zealand Secure Exports Scheme are mutually recognised, by which Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs) of both economies enjoy mutual customs clearance benefits, including reduced examination and prioritised clearance.

     This is the ninth MRA that the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) has concluded with other Customs administrations after those with the Mainland, India, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and Australia. Apart from demonstrating the two Customs administrations' efforts in strengthening international cargo security, the signing of the MRA with New Zealand also enables accredited Hong Kong traders to better explore the market there by leveraging their edge of certified status under the Belt and Road Initiative.

     MRA negotiation is now extending to North America. During the same Council Session today (June 29, Brussels time), the Assistant Commissioner of Customs and Excise (Excise and Strategic Support), Mr Jimmy Tam, signed an MRA Action Plan with the Vice President of the Canada Border Services Agency, Mr Martin Bolduc, to mark the commencement of formal negotiation for mutual recognition of the HKAEO Programme and the Partners in Protection programme in Canada.

     Participation in the HKAEO Programme is free, open and voluntary. Any company engaging in business principally related to the international supply chain is welcome to apply for AEO status. Since the formal launch of the HKAEO Programme in April 2012, the C&ED has accredited 47 companies as AEOs, including multinational companies and small and medium-sized local enterprises.

      

     Correctional officers at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre today (June 29) intercepted a remand person in custody smuggling suspected dangerous drugs into the centre by concealing them inside his body.

     The 54-year-old remand person in custody was remanded in the institution for the offence of possession of dangerous drugs on June 27. After undergoing X-ray body scanning, he was suspected to have swallowed suspected dangerous drugs before admission and was therefore separated and put under close monitoring.

     At 10.02am today, he discharged six packs of suspected dangerous drugs wrapped in plastic sheet. The case has been reported to the Police for follow-up.

     A spokesperson for the Correctional Services Department said, "The department takes every measure to stop the introduction of dangerous drugs or unauthorised articles into correctional institutions in order to maintain good order and discipline and a drug-free environment for all persons in its custody."

     More than 400 young musicians and choristers who participated in the 2018 Hong Kong Youth Music Camp will perform Chinese and Western music pieces in two concerts to be held in July to showcase their musical achievements.
 
     Presented by the Music Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the 2018 Hong Kong Youth Music Camp Concerts will be held at 3pm on July 22 and 29 at the Concert Halls of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the Hong Kong City Hall respectively. The concerts will be conducted by internationally acclaimed maestros and are part of the summer programme International Arts Carnival 2018.
 
     The first concert will be performed by the camp's Children's Choir, Junior String Orchestra and Chinese Orchestra. Highlights of the programme will include the choral piece "My Favourite Things" from "The Sound of Music", and a dynamic strings' repertoire of the gypsy spirit "Capriccio Espagnol". The conductors will be the Resident Conductor of the Macao Chinese Orchestra and Head of the Teaching-Research Section for Ensemble and Artistic Direction, Shenyang Conservatory of Music, Sun Peng; the Music Director of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra and the Music Director of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra (United States), Kirk Trevor; and the Founder and Director Emerita of Syracuse Children's Choir and the former Professor of Choral Music Education, Syracuse University (United States), Dr Barbara Tagg. The concert will also feature Law Wai-lun and Cheng Chai-man's "The Legend of the White Snake" (Dizi Concerto), to be performed by celebrated dizi performer Sun Yongzhi in collaboration with the camp's Chinese Orchestra.
 
     The second concert will be conducted by the renowned symphonic and operatic conductor and Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera (United States), Paul Nadler; the Resident Conductor of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, Peng Fei; and renowned Taiwanese conductor and clarinetist, Lin Shih-wei. Under their batons, the camp's Junior Chinese Orchestra, Junior Symphonic Band, and Symphony Orchestra will perform music pieces including local favourite "Selections from Tales of the Walled City" by Chen Ning-chi; Japanese composer Masanori Taruya's fascinating band repertoire "Tears of the Princess Kushinada Flowing in Hii", and the mesmerising orchestral classic "Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture" by Tchaikovsky.
 
     The Hong Kong Youth Music Camp is a major annual summer activity of the Music Office which provides intensive training to musicians in a scenic campsite setting. Participants can also enjoy recreational and sports facilities at the camp.
 
     Tickets for the concerts priced at $50, $70 and $90 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2796 1003 or 2582 5311 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/mo/activities/upcoming/2018hkymcc.html.