Hong Kong Customs yesterday (January 15) conducted a special operation in Tin Shui Wai and Kwai Chung, and cracked down on one mobile hawker stall and its storage place successfully. A total of about 1,900 items of suspected counterfeit apparel with an estimated market value of about $480,000 were seized.
      
     Customs earlier received information regarding a mobile hawker selling suspected counterfeit goods in Tin Shui Wai. After an in-depth investigation, Customs officers took enforcement action yesterday and raided a mobile hawker stall in Tin Shui Wai and its storage place in Kwai Chung. The batch of suspected counterfeit apparel was seized.
      
     During the operation, two men aged 48 and 49 suspected to be connected with the case were arrested. They have been released on bail pending further investigation. An investigation is ongoing.
      
     With Lunar New Year approaching, Customs will continue to step up inspection and enforcement to combat the sale of different kinds of counterfeit goods. 
      
     Customs reminds consumers to procure goods at reputable shops and to check with the trademark owners or their authorised agents if the authenticity of a product is in doubt. Also, traders should be cautious and prudent in merchandising since the sale of counterfeit goods is a serious crime and offenders are liable to criminal sanctions.
      
     Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, any person who sells or possesses for sale any goods with a forged trademark commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
      
     Members of the public may report any suspected counterfeit activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

  

     â€‹Hongkong Post announced today (January 16) that, as advised by the postal administration of Papua New Guinea, due to protests, mail delivery services to Papua New Guinea are subject to delay.

     â€‹The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (January 16) announced the test results of a recently completed seasonal food surveillance project on Lunar New Year (LNY) food (first phase). The test results of around 420 samples collected were satisfactory except for one sample that was announced earlier.

     A spokesman for the CFS said, "The LNY is coming soon and the CFS is conducting this seasonal food surveillance project in two phases. During the first phase of the project, different types of LNY food including steamed puddings (e.g. turnip puddings and festive cakes), fried dumplings (e.g. sesame balls and crispy triangles), candies, glutinous rice balls, nuts, melon seeds and dried aquatic products were collected from different retailers (including online retailers) for chemical and microbiological tests as well as nutrition content analysis."
           
     Chemical tests targeted preservatives, metallic contaminants, sweeteners and others. Microbiological tests covered different food poisoning pathogens. For nutrition content analysis, the contents of total fat, sodium and sugars of the samples were tested to see if the test results were consistent with the declared values on the nutrition labels.

     The unsatisfactory food sample was a prepackaged fresh bean curd sticks sample in breach of the food labelling regulation. The CFS has taken follow-up action on the above-mentioned unsatisfactory sample including informing the vendor concerned of the test result, instructing them to stop selling the affected food item and mounting a recall, and tracing the source of the food item in question.
           
     The spokesman urged the food trade to observe the relevant laws and regulations in the preparation of food, follow Good Manufacturing Practice and use permitted food additives only in an appropriate manner. Retailers should source food from reliable suppliers, and conduct quality checks of incoming materials and end products to ensure that ingredients used are within legal standards. In addition, the food trade should maintain proper records in accordance with the requirements of the Food Safety Ordinance to allow source tracing if needed.
           
     The spokesman also advised consumers to buy LNY food from reliable retailers with good hygiene conditions; make sure the packaging of prepackaged cakes and snacks is intact and the products have not expired; refer to the nutrition labels on the sugar, salt (sodium) and fat content and more for making healthy choices; and pay attention to the hygiene conditions of food containers and the personal hygiene of staff when buying loose-packed foods (e.g. candied lotus seeds, nuts and melon seeds).
           
     "Consumers should choose food products with natural colours. Bright white pistachios may have been bleached and melon seeds with an unnatural gloss may have had mineral oil added. Consumption of these food products can cause gastrointestinal discomfort," the spokesman said.
           
     "Festive cakes that are not for immediate consumption should be kept refrigerated or stored according to the instructions on the package, and should be eaten before they expire. Reheat hot-served festive cakes thoroughly before consumption, consume them as soon as possible, and avoid keeping them at room temperature for a long time. Foods like nuts and melon seeds should not be kept for a long time. Those with mould or an abnormal smell or taste should not be eaten," he added.
           
     The spokesman reminded the public to maintain a balanced diet and avoid foods that are high in energy, sugar, salt or fat during the LNY.
           
     The CFS will continue to conduct surveillance on LNY food and the second-phase results will be released in a timely manner to ensure food safety.

     Please visit the CFS website (www.cfs.gov.hk/seasonalfood) for more food safety information about seasonal food.

     To tie in with the tradition of cleaning up before the Lunar New Year, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (January 16) commenced a year-end clean-up campaign across the territory, and appealed to the public for their earnest participation and efforts to maintain cleanliness in the household, the community and public places to welcome the Year of the Dragon.
      
     An FEHD spokesman said, "The annual year-end clean-up campaign started today and will last for 21 days to consolidate the efforts of keeping Hong Kong clean and maintain a clean and hygienic environment."
      
     During the campaign period, the FEHD will step up the cleaning of public facilities under the department's management including markets, cooked food centres, hawker bazaars, public toilets and refuse collection points. Cleaning of problematic sites of illegal refuse dumping and other public cleanliness offences will also be enhanced. FEHD staff will step up inspections, cleaning and disinfection of communal areas and facilities in the markets, and remind stall tenants to clean up their stalls thoroughly.  
      
     In addition, the FEHD will conduct mosquito and rodent prevention and control operations targeting places such as old tenement buildings, streets, rear lanes, village houses and construction sites, according to each district's circumstances. In view of the upcoming implementation of municipal solid waste charging, the FEHD will assess the actual situation and consider increasing the number of temporary junk collection points in each district for residents to discard large items of household waste. Cleaning as well as refuse and bulky waste collection services at the refuse collection points in all districts will also be enhanced.
      
     The spokesman added that to ensure the cleanliness of public places, the department will continue to strengthen enforcement action and issue fixed penalty notices to offenders in breach of the public cleanliness and obstruction regulations.
      
     For more details about the efforts and work of the year-end clean-up campaign as well as information on environmental hygiene, please visit the FEHD website at www.fehd.gov.hk.
      
     The spokesman stressed that maintaining a clean and hygienic community hinges on the co-operation and earnest participation of everyone. He called for the concerted efforts of every member of the public to maintain environmental hygiene and enjoy a clean environment in the coming Lunar New Year.

    

     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, met with a delegation led by the President of the Guangdong Province Hospital Association, Professor Huang Li, today (January 16) to exchange views on deepening medical co-operation between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

     At the meeting, Professor Lo introduced to the delegation the latest policy initiatives on cross-boundary medical collaboration put forward by the HKSAR Government, including the extension of coverage of the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme on the Mainland, cross-boundary medical services as well as high-quality healthcare talent training and exchange programmes.

     Professor Lo said, "The HKSAR Government attaches great importance to cross-boundary medical collaboration. In his 2023 Policy Address, the Chief Executive adopted for the first time 'Cross-boundary Medical Collaboration' as one of the subtitles and proposed a number of specific measures, including the establishment of the Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Institute to achieve concerted development in clinical trials with the Mainland; participation in and support to the internationalisation of national hospital accreditation standards; the roll-out of the Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme; utilising eHealth digital health records to support cross-boundary medical collaboration in the Greater Bay Area; provision of direct cross-boundary ambulance service; and promotion of the accreditation standards of national chest pain centres.

     "Under the principle of complementarity and mutual benefits and on the premise of benefitting the healthcare development of both the Mainland and Hong Kong, the HKSAR Government has all along been working together with various counterparts on the Mainland in reinforcing co-operation on healthcare service developments with a view to levelling up the healthcare quality. Looking ahead, we will remain committed to fostering cross-boundary medical co-operation so as to propel the important national strategy of 'Healthy China' through concerted contribution."

     Deputy Secretary for Health Mr Eddie Lee; the Senior Advisor (Secretary for Health's Office), Dr Joe Fan; the Director of Cluster Services of the Hospital Authority (HA), Dr Simon Tang; and representatives of the Health Bureau, the Department of Health and the HA also attended the meeting today.