Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 15) that Jockey Club Yan Oi Tong Swimming Pool in Tuen Mun District has been temporarily closed for cleaning and superchlorination following the discovery of a small amount of vomit in the pool.

     It will be reopened at 7pm today.

     The department appeals to swimmers to be considerate and to keep the swimming pools clean. They are advised not to swim after a full meal and should use the toilet facilities if necessary before swimming.

     The Government launched "E-commerce Easy" under the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund) today (July 15), with a view to assisting enterprises to develop the Mainland market through electronic commerce (e-commerce) business.
 
     Speaking at the launching ceremony of "E-commerce Easy", the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, said that amid the rapid growth of global e-commerce business, in particular the flourishing Mainland e-commerce market, the Government launched "E-commerce Easy", under which enterprises can flexibly make use of a maximum funding of $1 million to implement e-commerce projects, to further assist them in exploring the enormous potential of the Mainland domestic sales market. He encouraged the trade to make good use of the measure to proactively seize the opportunities in the Mainland e-commerce market to expand their business coverage.
 
     Mr Yau added that the Government will organise the Hong Kong Shopping Festivals on Mainland e-commerce platforms in August through the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to help small and medium enterprises promote Hong Kong brands, with a view to enhancing awareness of Hong Kong products and brands in the Mainland and tapping the Mainland domestic market.
 
     The cumulative funding ceiling of "E-commerce Easy" is $1 million. Unlike general applications of the BUD Fund, items under "E-commerce Easy" projects are not subject to individual funding caps, so that more targeted support can be provided to enterprises. Enterprises can make use of the funding for the establishment of online stores and placement of advertisements on third-party online sales platforms, development or enhancement of mobile applications and incorporation of online payment options on their websites.
 
     Funding under "E-commerce Easy" will be provided to enterprises on a matching basis. Enterprises can opt for an initial payment of up to 75 per cent of the approved government funding. All projects must be completed within 24 months.
 
     Apart from "E-commerce Easy", enterprises may continue to apply for funding through the general application track or "Easy BUD" of the BUD Fund, in order to assist their business development in the Mainland and other markets with which Hong Kong has signed free trade agreements and/or investment promotion and protection agreements. The cumulative funding ceiling per enterprise under the BUD Fund will remain at $7 million.
 
     The BUD Fund was established in 2012 and its current geographical coverage has been expanded to 39 economies. Over $5.1 billion has been approved under the BUD Fund, with more than 5 600 beneficiary enterprises.
 
     Details of BUD Fund – "E-commerce Easy" are available at www.bud.hkpc.org/en. For enquiries, please contact the BUD Fund Secretariat (Tel: 2788 6088).

  

     In response to the Japanese Government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on July 12 to noon today (July 15), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 351 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the "aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt" category, in the past three days (including last Saturday and Sunday). No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS's thematic website titled "Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan" (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).
 
     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 152 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD's website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO's website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 67 852 samples of food imported from Japan (including 43 653 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 16 194 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.

The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:
 
     The Research Grants Council (RGC) announced today (July 15) the funding results of the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme 2024/25 (Twelfth Round) and the Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2024/25 (Fourteenth Round).  
 
     Three AoE and seven TRS research proposals were awarded RGC funding totalling $236 million and $330 million respectively. The lists of the awarded projects are set out in Annexes I and II.
 
     The Chairman of the RGC, Professor Timothy W. Tong, said, "I am delighted to announce the successful completion of the 2024/25 exercise. Under the AoE Scheme, three outstanding projects in the areas of diabetes care, surgical robots and artificial intelligence for geriatric care were selected for funding, after rigorous peer reviews based on academic and scientific merits. I would like to congratulate the three project teams for successfully securing the funding support to develop their cutting-edge research into areas of excellence.
 
     "Under the TRS, the RGC decided to fund seven projects which are of strategic importance to Hong Kong's long-term development. These projects cover a wide range of research areas highly relevant to our daily lives, including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) control, hepatocellular carcinoma, resilience against extreme storm surges, wireless power transfer technologies, sustainable supply chain finance, multi-sensory emulation wearable devices, and social robots. I am confident that these projects will deliver enduring economic and societal impacts at the local, national and international levels.
 
     "The RGC has been committed to promoting the University Grants Committee-funded universities in carrying out academic collaborative research. By providing annual funding through the AoE Scheme and the TRS, the RGC has been supporting universities in consolidating and putting into play their advantages, as well as pooling talent and resources. This would provide a strong foothold for developing Hong Kong into an international hub for post‑secondary education, and contributing to the further enhancement of Hong Kong's research capacity and the vibrancy of our innovation ecosystem."
      
     Professor Tong expressed his gratitude to the panel experts for their valuable contributions to the assessment process, as well as local researchers for their continued support for the AoE Scheme, the TRS and the RGC's work.
      
     Details of the approved projects for the 2024/25 exercise are available on the RGC website (AoE Scheme: www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/aoe/funded_research/aoe12.html and TRS: www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/trs/funded_research/trs14.html) for reference. A call for proposals for the AoE Scheme and the TRS 2025/26 will be issued later this month.

The following is issued on behalf of the Communications Authority:
 
     This press release summarises the decision of the Communications Authority (CA) following its 136th meeting held in July 2024.
 
Relaxation of requirement related to insertion of news updates in television programmes
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     The CA decided to relax the requirement related to the display of non-programme material (Note 1) within programmes on domestic free television programme services (free TV) and domestic pay television programme services (pay TV) so that individual licensees may, having regard to their production and scheduling needs, decide whether or not to insert news updates in their programmes.
 
     In June 2024, the CA received an application from Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) for a waiver to enable it to display news headlines (Note 2), in the form of superimposed text, for specified types of programmes (including current affairs programmes, documentaries, informative and infotainment programmes) on the Phoenix Hong Kong Channel. The CA notes that with the proliferation of instant information and increasing demand for such information, viewers should have been accustomed to the display of news headlines in the aforesaid types of programmes and that their viewing pleasure would not be affected. In view of the above, the CA approved TVB's application on the condition that the superimposition of news headlines would not affect the viewing pleasure of the viewers. The waiver is valid until further notice. The relaxation is also applicable to TVB's other programme channels as well as the other two free TV licensees (i.e. HK Television Entertainment Company Limited and i-CABLE HOY Limited) and the pay TV licensee (i.e. PCCW Media Limited) for the broadcast of the aforesaid types of programmes.
 
Note 1: Paragraph 1 of Chapter 8 of the Generic Code of Practice on Television Advertising Standards stipulates that unless otherwise permitted by the CA, non-programme material may be placed only at the beginning or end of a programme or in a natural break occurring therein. For the purpose of this code, "non-programme material" includes news headlines in the form of superimposed text within a programme (except news programme).
 
Note 2: The CA has previously approved TVB's application for a temporary waiver for the Phoenix Hong Kong Channel to display news headlines for specified types of programmes (including current affairs programmes, documentaries and informative programmes). The waiver is valid for a period of three months from April 22 to July 21, 2024.