The Social Welfare Department (SWD) said today (January 31) that the SWD had disbursed relief grants to the first batch of eligible applicants for the Scheme on Relief Grants for Interest Class Instructors Hired by Organisations Subvented by the Social Welfare Department (Phase 4) last Friday (January 28) and had informed these applicants of the application results through SMS messages.
 
     The SWD appeals to interest class instructors who have not yet filed their applications to submit the forms to the SWD through the subvented welfare service units concerned as early as possible. The application will be closed on March 31. Application details have been uploaded to the SWD website (www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_whatsnew/).
 
     As one of the measures under the fifth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund, Phase 4 of the scheme aims at providing a one-off relief grant of $5,000 for each of the eligible interest class instructors engaged/planned to be engaged by subvented welfare service units of the SWD-subvented organisations for providing training in arts, dancing, handicraft work, sports and more for service users during the first quarter of 2022, where the units' services have been suspended and the instructors' income affected owing to the epidemic situation, so as to provide support and help lessen the impact of COVID-19 on them. For those instructors who have submitted applications to the Education Bureau for relief grants for school instructors of learning/interest classes or to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department for relief grants for registered sports coaches, further submission to the SWD is not required.

     The Financial Secretary has appointed three new members, Ms Fion Ng Siu-mui, Mr Joe Wan Pui-lun and Ms Sabrina Ho Shuk-ying, to the Standing Committee on Company Law Reform (SCCLR). Six incumbent members, namely Mr Paul Chow, Ms Julianne Pearl Doe, Mr Jason Karas, Ms Rachel Lam Yan-kay, SC, Mr Albert Ng and Ms Tiffany Wong, have been re-appointed.

     The appointments and re-appointments are for a term of two years starting from February 1, 2022.

     The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, said today (January 31), "With the professional knowledge of its members, the SCCLR has provided valuable advice on the improvement of our company law in furtherance of Hong Kong's status as an international commercial and financial centre."

     He added, "We are grateful to the outgoing members, Mr Robert Lee Wai-wang, Mrs Natalia Seng Sze Ka-mee and Ms Cynthia Tang Yuen-shun, for their valuable contributions to the SCCLR over the past six years."

     The SCCLR was set up in 1984. It advises the Financial Secretary on amendments to the Companies Ordinance and the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance, as well as amendments to the Securities and Futures Ordinance on matters relating to corporate governance and shareholders' protection, as and when necessary.
  
     As from February 1, 2022, the membership list of the SCCLR will be as follows:
  
Mr Johnny Mok, SC (Chairman)
Mr Clement Chan Kam-wing 
Mr Paul Chow Koon-ying
Ms Christine Chung Wai-yin
Ms Julianne Pearl Doe
Mr Dennis Ho Chiu-ping
Ms Sabrina Ho Shuk-ying
Mr Jason Karas
Ms Rachel Lam Yan-kay, SC
Professor Low Chee-keong
Ms Gillian Meller
Mr Albert Ng
Ms Fion Ng Siu-mui
Mr Bernie Ting Wai-cheung
Ms Jacqueline Walsh
Mr Joe Wan Pui-lun
Ms Tiffany Wong

Ex-officio Members
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Ms Bonnie Chan Yiting 
Head of Listing
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited

Mr Stefan Gannon
Special Adviser to Chief Executive
Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Ms Annabel Lee Tung-mei
Deputy Chief Counsel, Legal Services Division
Securities and Futures Commission

Ms Kitty Tsui Lai-ching
Acting Registrar of Companies

Ms Phyllis McKenna
Official Receiver

Mr Sam Hui Chark-shum
Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services)
Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau

Ms Quinnci Wong Hoi-kam
Senior Government Counsel
Department of Justice

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (January 31) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Gifhorn District in the State of Niedersachsen in Germany, PoznaÅ„ski District of Wielkopolskie Region in Poland and Province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, and a notification from the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Cheshire East District of Cheshire County and Tyne and Wear County in the United Kingdom (UK), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 430 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 800 000 poultry eggs from Germany, about 4 070 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 24.82 million poultry eggs from Poland, about 730 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from the Netherlands, and about 70 tonnes of chilled poultry meat, about 2 970 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 250 000 poultry eggs from the UK in the first nine months of last year.

     "The CFS has contacted the German, Polish, Dutch and British authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     Exchange Fund Bills tender results:
 

 
*"Pro rata ratio" refers to the average percentage of allotment with respect to each tender participant's tendered amount at the "highest yield accepted" level.

     â€‹The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (January 31) released the findings of its food safety report for December 2021. The results of about 6 100 food samples tested were found to be satisfactory except for 16 unsatisfactory samples which were announced earlier. The overall satisfactory rate was 99.7 per cent.
          
     A CFS spokesman said about 1 200 food samples were collected for microbiological tests, and about 4 900 samples were taken for chemical and radiation level tests.
         
     The microbiological tests covered pathogens and hygiene indicators; the chemical tests included testing for pesticides, preservatives, metallic contaminants, colouring matters, veterinary drug residues and others; and the radiation level tests included testing for radioactive caesium and iodine in samples collected from imported food from different regions.
         
     The samples comprised about 2 300 samples of vegetables and fruit and their products; about 400 samples of cereals, grains and their products; about 500 samples of meat and poultry and their products; about 800 samples of milk, milk products and frozen confections; about 700 samples of aquatic and related products; and about 1 400 samples of other food commodities (including beverages, bakery products and snacks).
         
     The 16 unsatisfactory samples comprised two prepackaged date samples, two prepackaged dried mushroom samples, a prepackaged mushroom sample and a prepackaged spinach noodle sample in breach of the food labelling regulations; a fish ball sample detected with methylmercury at a level which may have contravened the regulations; a grass carp sample found with malachite green; a banana sample detected with pesticide residue exceeding the legal limit; a prepackaged turnip pudding sample detected with a non-permitted preservative; five frozen confection samples detected with coliform bacteria exceeding the legal limit; and a candied winter-melon sample detected with a preservative exceeding the legal limit.
         
     The CFS has taken follow-up actions 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 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.
      
Summary of food surveillance programme for 2021
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     Concluding the food surveillance programme for 2021, the spokesman said that apart from routine food surveillance, the CFS also conducted a number of targeted, seasonal and popular food surveillance projects.
      
     "In addition to about 9 400 samples of imported Japanese food taken for testing of radiation levels in response to the Fukushima nuclear power plant incident in Japan, about 66 300 samples were tested by the CFS last year. The overall satisfactory rate was 99.9 per cent, which was comparable to the results in recent years. This indicates that food safety has been maintained at a high standard in Hong Kong," he said.
      
     "The exceedances or breaches for most of the unsatisfactory samples were not serious and would not pose adverse health effects to the general public. For individual food items with unsatisfactory test results, the CFS has taken prompt and effective risk management actions to safeguard public health," he said.
      
     He added that in planning the food surveillance programme, the CFS will take into consideration a number of factors such as the food consumption level and the risk of the food concerned in deciding on the number of samples to be tested and the frequency of sampling as well as the testing parameters. In addition, the CFS will also suitably adjust its food surveillance programme and strengthen relevant testing with regard to local and overseas food incidents as well as past surveillance data, in particular breaches of regulatory requirements that occurred more frequently, so as to safeguard food safety in Hong Kong.