The Transport Department (TD) is very concerned about the fatal traffic accident involving a coach on Cheung Tsing Highway in Tsing Yi this morning (November 30).

     The TD has contacted the operator concerned to better understand the situation this morning. Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Transport has contacted the Public Omnibus Operators Association to express her concern, and a meeting between the TD and the Association will be arranged later to study and review the issue of operational safety of non-franchised buses.

     Regarding the cause of the accident, investigation by the Police is under way. According to the TD's records, the coach involved was equipped with seats with high seat back and seatbelts. The latest vehicle examination was conducted in February this year and the coach passed the safety tests.

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (November 29) conducted an anti-piracy operation in Yau Ma Tei and seized about 6 000 suspected pirated optical discs (PODs) and 4 000 suspected obscene optical discs with an estimated market value of about $220,000.

     During the operation, officers raided two shops in Yau Ma Tei and seized the batch of suspected PODs and obscene optical discs. Two men, aged 67 and 71, were arrested.

     Investigation is ongoing.

     Customs has been carrying out stringent enforcement actions against the sale of infringing goods and will continue to step up patrols and enforcement actions against privacy activities.

     Under the Copyright Ordinance, any person who possesses an infringing copy of a copyright work with a view to selling it commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $50,000 per infringing copy and imprisonment for four years.

     Under the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, any person who possesses for the purpose of publication any obscene article commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction, is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for three years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected infringing activities to the Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

  

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (November 30) released the findings of its food safety report for last month. The results of about 15 500 food samples tested were satisfactory except for six samples which were announced earlier. The overall satisfactory rate was 99.9 per cent.
    
     A CFS spokesman said about 1 300 food samples were collected for microbiological tests, some 4 600 samples were taken for chemical tests and the remaining 9 600 (including about 9 200 taken from food imported from Japan) were collected to test radiation levels.
    
     The microbiological tests covered pathogens and hygienic indicators, while the chemical tests included pesticides, preservatives, metallic contaminants, colouring matters, veterinary drug residues and others.
 
     The samples comprised about 4 200 samples of vegetables and fruit and their products; 900 samples of meat and poultry and their products; 1 900 samples of aquatic and related products; 1 000 samples of milk, milk products and frozen confections; 1 100 samples of cereals, grains and their products; and 6 400 samples of other food commodities (including beverages, bakery products and snacks).
 
     The six unsatisfactory samples comprised two spinach samples detected with excessive cadmium, a grass carp sample detected with a trace amount of malachite green, a sample of rice with grilled pork neck found to contain Salmonella, a sample of dry noodles with stir-fried egg and BBQ pork detected with excessive coagulase-positive staphylococci, and a mushroom sample found to contain sulphur dioxide undeclared on its food label.
 
     The CFS has taken follow-up action on the unsatisfactory samples, including informing the vendors concerned of the test results, instructing them to stop selling the affected food items and tracing the sources of the food items in question.
 
     The spokesman reminded the food trade to ensure that food for sale is fit for human consumption and meets legal requirements. Consumers should patronise reliable shops when buying food and maintain a balanced diet to minimise food risks.

     The Department of Health (DH) announced today (November 30) that the Hong Kong Institute of Audiologists (HKIA) has been granted full accreditation status under the Pilot Accredited Registers Scheme for Healthcare Professions (AR Scheme). The HKIA is authorised as the accredited healthcare professional body responsible for administering a register for the audiologist profession. Audiologist is the second profession accredited under the AR Scheme.
 
     Under the principle of professional autonomy, the AR Scheme aims to enhance the existing society-based registration arrangement of healthcare professions currently not subject to statutory registration with a view to ensuring the professional competency of healthcare professionals and providing more information for the public to make informed decisions.
 
     The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (JCSPHPC) is the independent Accreditation Agent of the AR Scheme. According to the assessment of the JCSPHPC, the HKIA has met the accreditation standards covering governance, operational effectiveness, risk management and quality improvement, standards for registrants, education and training requirements, and management of the register. The DH has accepted the recommendation of the JCSPHPC to grant full accreditation status to the HKIA.
 
     As an accredited healthcare professional body, the HKIA is permitted to use the Accreditation Mark on its website and Certificates of Registration issued to its members for easy identification by the public. Members of the HKIA can use the title "Member of Register of Audiologists accredited by Department of Health" on their name cards.
 
     In addition to administering a register for the profession, the HKIA is also responsible for improving professional competency of the audiologist profession and handling complaints against its members.
 
     Healthcare professionals and members of the public may visit the websites of the HKIA (www.audiologists.org.hk) and the AR Scheme (www.ars.gov.hk) for more information about the HKIA and its register of members.

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session before LegCo luncheon this afternoon (November 30):
  
Reporter: Mrs Lam, do you think the Government should tighten regulations on long work hours of these drivers, because similar accidents have happened again?
 
Chief Executive: I think it is too early to draw a conclusion out of this very tragic incident. Of course, the Police are still investigating the incident, and before they come up with any conclusion of the investigation or even a subsequent investigation it is premature to draw any conclusion, and that's why it is not appropriate for the Government to suggest what sort of remedial measures that we should take. But as you will recall, we did have this sort of serious incidents from time to time, and every time the Government would take it very seriously. Whether we need to have an independent inquiry, as in the case of very serious incident, or very detailed investigation or Coroner's Court, we have a very well-established system and the Government will do whatever is required as a result of those investigations.
  
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)