The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (December 11) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in areas in Poland, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the relevant areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     â€‹The relevant areas are as follows:

Poland
(1) Goleniowski District of Zachodniopomorskie Region

UK
(2) East Devon District of Devon County

US
The State of California
(3) Stanislaus County
(4) San Benito County

The State of Wisconsin
(5) Barron County

The State of Arkansas
(6) Johnson County

The State of Ohio
(7) Darke County

The State of Colorado
(8) Bent County

​     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 2 140 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Poland, about 540 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 400 000 poultry eggs from the UK, and about 21 470 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 57.11 million poultry eggs from the US in the first nine months of this year.

     "The CFS has contacted the Polish, British and American authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH 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 Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold a public hearing on "Licensing of food premises" (Chapter 2) of the Director of Audit's Report No. 81 tomorrow (December 12) at 9am in Conference Room 1 of the LegCo Complex.

     Thirteen witnesses have been invited to appear before the above hearing to respond to points raised in the Report and answer questions asked by PAC members.

     The programme for the public hearing is as follows:

Subject:  Licensing of food premises
(Chapter 2 of the Director of Audit's Report No. 81)
Date: December 12 (Tuesday)
Time: 9am
Venue: Conference Room 1

Witnesses:

Mr Tse Chin-wan
Secretary for Environment and Ecology

Miss Vivian Lau
Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Food)

Ms Wendy Au
Acting Deputy Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Food)1

Ms Irene Young
Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene

Mr Arsene Yiu
Deputy Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene (Environmental Hygiene)

Mr Gabriel Tsang
Assistant Director (Operations)1
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department

Mr Wan Chi-shun
Senior Superintendent (Hygiene)
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department

Miss Winnie Chau Wing-chi
Senior Superintendent (Licensing)
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department

Ms Clarice Yu
Director of Buildings

Mr Yue Chak-sang
Chief Building Surveyor/New Territories East (1) and Licensing
Buildings Department

Mr Andy Yeung Yan-kin
Director of Fire Services

Mr Wong Ka-wing
Assistant Director (Licensing and Certification)
Fire Services Department

Mrs Alice Cheung
Director of Home Affairs

     The PAC is chaired by Mr Shiu Ka-fai, and its Deputy Chairman is Mr Paul Tse.  Other members are Ms Yung Hoi-yan, Mr Luk Chung-hung, Mr Edmund Wong, Mr Louis Loong and Ms Carmen Kan.

     â€‹Invest Hong Kong announced today (December 11) that one of its assisted companies, Mainland restaurant brand Tai Er, is opening four suancai fish shops this month in a single investment showing ample confidence in the city's food and beverage industry.
      
     The Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion, Dr Jimmy Chiang, said that Tai Er's decision is a vivid case of the attraction of Hong Kong's vibrant restaurant industry. "Hong Kong is a gourmet paradise with customers from all over the globe. Local brands, brands from the Mainland and those from the West gather and interact in our global hub here creating one of the world's most sophisticated food and beverage ecosystems."
      
     The locations of the four Tai Er shops span across multiple strategic spots in Hong Kong. Two in Tsim Sha Tsui and Sha Tin were opened last Saturday (December 9), and the remaining two will be opened later this month in Kowloon Tong and San Po Kong. The ingredients and recipe used in Hong Kong will strictly follow the high-quality level set out by the group, said the International Business Development Senior Director of Too Two Hong Kong Restaurant Limited, Mr Jason Chen, vowing to offer Hong Kong customers an unforgettable experience of suancai fish.
      
     "Through many years of hard work and commitment, Tai Er has earned an expanding group of loyal fans, who include many discerning diners from Hong Kong. By opening shops in Hong Kong, we hope to keep our brand awareness growing in the city and beyond," Mr Chen said.
      
     "As Hong Kong is itself a renowned international city as well as a well-known gourmet hub, we can grow our brand via the city to other parts in the region, which helps to build and cement Tai Er's global presence. We have full confidence that our commitment in high-quality food and services will take us towards our goal of being a top-notched brand in the world," he continued.
      
     Tai Er is part of the Jiumaojiu Group, listed in Hong Kong, which operates more than 670 different branded restaurants in Mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada. It is renowned for its suancai fish across the Mainland. The company said it has future plans to open more shops in the region via Hong Kong.
      
     To get a copy of the photos, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/albums/72177720313294485.
      
     For more information about Tai Er, please visit https://www.taier.net/eindex.html
 

    

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (December 11) the results of the Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for November 2023.
 
     The current diffusion index (DI) on business receipts amongst SMEs decreased from 44.8 in October 2023 in the contractionary zone to 44.0 in November 2023, whereas the one-month's ahead (i.e. December 2023) outlook DI on business receipts was 48.3. Analysed by sector, the current DIs on business receipts for majority of the surveyed sectors dropped by varying degrees in November 2023 as compared with previous month, particularly for the import and export trades (from 45.0 to 43.6) and logistics (from 43.3 to 41.9).
     
     The current DI on new orders for the import and export trades decreased from 45.6 in October 2023 to 43.9 in November 2023, whereas the outlook DI on new orders in one month's time (i.e. December 2023) was 47.8.
 
Commentary
 
     A Government spokesman said that overall business sentiment among SMEs eased further in November. The overall employment situation also softened slightly. Nonetheless, expectations on the business situation in one month's time remained stable.
 
     Looking forward, the spokesman said that business sentiment will continue to be dampened by the unfavourable external environment, though the expected further recovery of consumption- and tourism-related activities and the Government's various initiatives that bolster the economy should provide support. The Government will monitor the situation closely.
 
Further information
 
     The Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises aims to provide a quick reference, with minimum time lag, for assessing the short-term business situation faced by SMEs. SMEs covered in this survey refer to establishments with fewer than 50 persons engaged. Respondents were asked to exclude seasonal fluctuations in reporting their views. Based on the views collected from the survey, a set of diffusion indices (including current and outlook diffusion indices) is compiled. A reading above 50 indicates that the business condition is generally favourable, whereas that below 50 indicates otherwise. As for statistics on the business prospects of prominent establishments in Hong Kong, users may refer to the publication entitled "Report on Quarterly Business Tendency Survey" released by the C&SD.
 
     The results of the survey should be interpreted with care. The survey solicits feedback from a panel sample of about 600 SMEs each month and the survey findings are thus subject to sample size constraint. Views collected from the survey refer only to those of respondents on their own establishments rather than those on the respective sectors they are engaged in. Besides, in this type of opinion survey on expected business situation, the views collected in the survey are affected by the events in the community occurring around the time of enumeration, and it is difficult to establish precisely the extent to which respondents' perception of the business situation accords with the underlying trends. For this survey, main bulk of the data were collected around the last week of the reference month.
 
     More detailed statistics are given in the "Report on Monthly Survey on the Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises". Users can browse and download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1080015&scode=300).
 
     Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact Industrial Production Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7246; email: sme-survey@censtatd.gov.hk).

     In the third quarter of 2023, 17.5% of Hong Kong's total exports to the mainland of China (the Mainland) were for outward processing in the Mainland. On the other hand, 30.3% of Hong Kong's imports from the Mainland were related to outward processing in the Mainland, according to statistics released today (December 11) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD). Over the same period, 60.6% of Hong Kong's re-exports of Mainland origin to other places were produced through outward processing in the Mainland.
 
     In the third quarter of 2022, the corresponding proportions were 17.9% for total exports to the Mainland, 32.0% for imports from the Mainland and 58.6% for re-exports of Mainland origin to other places.
 
     In the first nine months of 2023, 16.9% of Hong Kong's total exports to the Mainland were for outward processing in the Mainland. On the other hand, 29.5% of Hong Kong's imports from the Mainland were related to outward processing in the Mainland. Over the same period, 60.2% of Hong Kong's re-exports of Mainland origin to other places were produced through outward processing in the Mainland.
 
     The corresponding proportions in the first nine months of 2022 were 18.0% for total exports to the Mainland, 31.1% for imports from the Mainland and 60.2% for re-exports of Mainland origin to other places.
 
     In value terms, $106.2 billion of Hong Kong's total exports to the Mainland in the third quarter of 2023 were for outward processing in the Mainland, representing a decrease of 10.9% compared with the third quarter of 2022. On the other hand, the value of imports from the Mainland related to outward processing in the Mainland decreased by 5.5% compared with the third quarter of 2022 to $157.4 billion. Meanwhile, $177.8 billion of Hong Kong's re-exports of Mainland origin to other places were produced through outward processing in the Mainland, representing a decrease of 1.6% compared with the third quarter of 2022.
 
     In the first nine months of 2023, $281.3 billion of Hong Kong's total exports to the Mainland were for outward processing in the Mainland, representing a decrease of 20.6% compared with the first nine months of 2022. On the other hand, the value of imports from the Mainland related to outward processing in the Mainland decreased by 11.3% compared with the first nine months of 2022 to $427.7 billion. Meanwhile, $503.7 billion of Hong Kong's re-exports of Mainland origin to other places were produced through outward processing in the Mainland, representing a decrease of 13.4% compared with the first nine months of 2022.
 
     The statistics for the third quarter and first nine months of 2023 are given in the attached tables.
 
     Information on trade involving outward processing in the Mainland is collected in a sample survey conducted by the C&SD.  For the purpose of the survey, exports to the Mainland for outward processing refer to raw materials or semi-manufactures exported from or through Hong Kong to the Mainland for processing with a contractual arrangement for subsequent re-importation of the processed goods into Hong Kong.
 
     Imports from the Mainland related to outward processing refer to processed goods imported from the Mainland, of which all or part of the raw materials or semi-manufactures have been under contractual arrangement exported from or through Hong Kong to the Mainland for processing.
 
     Re-exports of Mainland origin to other places involving outward processing in the Mainland refer to processed goods re-exported through Hong Kong, of which all or part of the raw materials or semi-manufactures have been exported from or through Hong Kong to the Mainland for processing with a contractual arrangement for subsequent re-importation of the processed goods into Hong Kong.
 
     In interpreting the statistics, it should be noted that all imports and exports of goods (not including transhipments and goods-in-transit) are recorded as external trade, irrespective of whether the goods are associated with outward processing or not. Moreover, the value and proportion of imports from the Mainland and re-exports of Mainland origin to other places involving outward processing in the Mainland refer to those of the entire goods instead of just the value added contributed by outward processing in the Mainland.
 
     A sample of import/export declarations in respect of Hong Kong's trade with the Mainland and Hong Kong's re-exports originated in the Mainland to other places is selected for enumeration to obtain the required information from the establishments concerned. The findings of the survey facilitate a more informed analysis of the nature of Hong Kong's trade with the Mainland. In this respect, the survey results are a useful supplement to the regular trade statistics.
 
     Users can download the times series of outward processing trade statistics in Tables 410-52001 to 410-52003 (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/scode230.html) at the website of the C&SD.
 
     Enquiries on the survey results may be directed to the Electronic Trading Services and Cargo Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 2126 or email: ops@censtatd.gov.hk).