The Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene has ordered a general restaurant in Yuen Long to suspend business for 21 days, as the licensee repeatedly breached the Food Business Regulation (FBR) by storing equipment and utensils in open space, extending the business area illegally and failing to store open food properly.
             
     The restaurant, located at Shop 6 on the ground floor of Wan Hing Building on 65 Kin Yip Street, was ordered to suspend business from today (March 13) to April 2.
             
     "Four convictions for the above-mentioned breaches were recorded against the restaurant licensee between October 2020 and November last year. A total fine of $11,650 was levied by the court, and 30 demerit points were registered against the licensee under the department's demerit points system. The contraventions resulted in a 14-day and a seven-day business suspension to be executed consecutively," a spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said.
             
     The licensee concerned had a record of two convictions for storing equipment and utensils in open space and illegal extension of the business area in September 2019 and October 2020. A total fine of $1,600 was levied, and 15 demerit points were also registered, leading to a seven-day licence suspension during December 2020 and January 2021.
             
     The spokesman reminded licensees of food premises to comply with the FBR, or their licences could be suspended or cancelled.
                 
     Licensed food premises are required to exhibit their licence and a sign at a conspicuous place of the premises, indicating that the premises have been licensed. A list of licensed food premises is available on the FEHD website (www.fehd.gov.hk/english/licensing/licence-foodPremises-search.html).

     â€‹The opening ceremony of the International Hydrogen Development Symposium 2025, organised by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department and co-organised by the China Hydrogen Alliance, was held today (March 13) at the Hong Kong Science Park, with distinguished guests including the Deputy Director-General of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Ye Shuiqiu; the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan; the Under Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Miss Diane Wong; the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, Mr Poon Kwok-ying; the Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Ms Alpha Lau; and the Secretary General of the China Hydrogen Alliance, Mr Liu Wei.

     Delivering an opening address at the symposium, Mr Tse stated that as the world moves toward achieving carbon neutrality, the world will continue to push for green transformation in the following decades, leading to a significant demand for green energy and innovative low-carbon technologies. Among these, hydrogen energy stands out due to its clean nature, high transportability, and remarkable energy efficiency. He pointed out that, leveraging its distinctive advantage of enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world, Hong Kong is well-positioned not only to adopt the technologies and products locally for green transformation but also to serve as a demonstration hub for hydrogen and other green technologies for other parts of the world. As an international financial centre, Hong Kong can further assist the green transformation of various regions and enterprises by providing green financing and professional services.

     In his welcome speech, Mr Poon shared that hydrogen has emerged as a pivotal player in achieving global decarbonisation goals. Aligning with the Strategy of Hydrogen Development in Hong Kong announced in 2024, the Government is proceeding with the legislative amendments to the Gas Safety Ordinance to ensure the safe use of hydrogen as fuel. He also thanked the 27 supporting organisations and more than 70 speakers for their contributions and support to the symposium.

     The symposium is being held today and tomorrow (March 13 and 14) at the Hong Kong Science Park. This symposium, being a mega event, attracts over 800 representatives from local, Mainland and overseas government departments, public organisations, professional institutions, and academia. It provides the trade with an interactive exchange platform for sharing the latest technology showcases, engineering solutions, and future trends in the hydrogen industry.

     For details of the symposium, please visit the event website h2symposium.com.

          

     The 15th National Games (NG), to be cohosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, is the highest-level and largest national multisport event in the country. From November 9 to 21, elite athletes from different provinces, municipalities and special administrative regions will converge on the three places to compete for top honours.

     The 15th NG includes 34 competition events and mass participation events. The mass participation events covering 23 sports will be divided into two categories: competition and demonstration. Competition events will cover 19 sports, namely table tennis, badminton, tennis, football, basketball, light volleyball, shuttlecock, roller sports, dragon boating, go, Chinese chess, chess, bridge, Chinese wrestling, orienteering, karate, gateball, modelling and bowling. Demonstration events will cover four sports, namely health qigong, tai chi, dragon and lion dancing, and broadcast gymnastics. The final events of various mass participation games will be held in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao from May to November. Members of the public are encouraged to participate in the activities of the NG in welcoming the event to be held in November.

     In upholding the NG's ideal of "benefit ordinary people, make a healthy China", national sports associations or relevant organisations will conduct free-of-charge athlete selections or objective technical tests to assess the skill level of athletes in the selection of eligible athletes to represent the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the mass participation events of the 15th NG.

     Hosting eight NG competition events for the first time, Hong Kong will also stage one mass participation event, which is bowling. Besides being spectators to cheer for the athletes, members of the public will have the opportunity to personally participate in this national mega sports event by competing in the mass participation events on behalf of Hong Kong.

     The athlete selections of the mass participation events are being conducted. The bowling event will be hosted by Hong Kong starting in April. The selection criteria and enrolment details of the mass participation events are available on the LCSD-designated website www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ngames/2025/competitions/participation.html.

     Regarding a report released by the Office of the Ombudsman today (March 13) on its direct investigation into "Estate Management of Public Rental Housing (PRH) by the Housing Department: Illegal Parking", the Housing Department (HD) thanked the Ombudsman for understanding that the daily management of public housing estates involves an extensive range of tasks and that the estate offices (EOs) assume significant responsibilities and heavy workloads; recognising that some estate roads are unable to install a vehicle access control system due to site constraints, prompting illegal parking which requires EOs to make more efforts to combat illegal parking. At the same time, EOs will also consider the needs of residents, particularly the elderly, young children and wheelchair users, as well as the visitation needs of their family and friends. In light of this, the HD will handle short-term parking in a reasonable and compassionate manner, in the spirit of being people-oriented.
 
     The Housing Authority (HA)/HD have shown great concern for road management in PRH estates, continuously strengthening management practices and introducing various facilities equipped with innovative technologies, including IoT (Internet of Things) sensors, artificial intelligence, etc to enhance enforcement effectiveness in combating illegal parking. In addition, the HA/HD promote law-abiding awareness among residents through publicity and education with the aim of maintaining estate roads, especially to keep emergency vehicular access (EVA) unobstructed, and timely reviews relevant measures to ensure overall effectiveness.
 
     HD staff will continue to conduct daily monitoring, surprise inspections and regular meetings with service contractors to ensure that they have effectively executed their contractual obligations such as road control. To strengthen road control, the Mobile Operations Unit under the HD will base on the actual circumstances and requests from EOs to carry out surprise enforcement actions on roads with higher instances of illegal parking, especially the EVA.
 
     "Regarding the direct investigation report initiated by the Ombudsman, we are thankful for its valuable views on our current road control mechanisms. We agree with and accept all the suggestions made by the Ombudsman. In fact, most of the suggestions are already implemented in PRH estates. We will continue to enhance the existing measures against illegal parking, make timely manpower deployments and increase resources, actively explore the use of innovative technologies to enhance management effectiveness, and collaborate with other government departments to conduct joint operations against illegal parking, ensuring that estate roads, especially the EVA remain unobstructed," the spokesman said.

The following is issued on behalf of the Council on Human Reproductive Technology:
 
     The Council on Human Reproductive Technology (Council) today (March 13) launched a consultation with stakeholders, including licensed centres and relevant organisations, on the proposed amendments to the Code of Practice on Reproductive Technology and Embryo Research (Code). The consultation period is until April 13. Details of the proposed amendments to the Code have been uploaded to the Council's website (https://www.chrt.org.hk).
      
     Currently, under section 15(2) of the Human Reproductive Technology (Licensing) Regulation (Cap. 561A), gametes or embryos for own use can be stored for at most 10 years. For cancer patients or any other patients who may be rendered infertile as a result of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, or other medical treatments, the maximum storage period for embryos is 10 years, and that for gametes is 10 years or until the patient reaches 55 years of age, whichever is the longer.
      
     Pursuant to section 45(2)(f) of the Human Reproductive Technology Ordinance (Cap. 561), the Council may make regulations on the maximum period of storage of embryos and gametes. Based on the feedback from stakeholders during the consultation of the last review of the Code in 2023, and referencing the practices in other jurisdictions, the Council conducted a comprehensive review of the legal limits on the storage of gametes (including sperms and eggs) or embryos from medical, ethical, social and legal perspectives. The relevant work has recently been completed and the Council preliminarily proposes to amend the Code based on the following major principles:
      
(i) lifting the legal restrictions on the storage period of gametes or embryos for own use, irrespective of the gender, age, or medical conditions of the patient;

(ii) the Council will amend the operational measures in the Code accordingly to ensure that the public is fully aware of the associated medical risks before engaging in unnecessary and prolonged storage of gametes or embryos without medical reasons;

(iii) the amended Code will require licensed centres to provide patients with relevant information, such as the risks of egg-retrieval procedures, the rapid decline in fertility or pregnancy rate associated with ageing of women, the risks of advanced maternal age, as well as the social impacts of delayed childbearing. Patients must sign a consent form to acknowledge the receipt of such information. After storing the gametes or embryos for a certain period, licensed centres are required to provide counselling tailored to the individual circumstances of the patients, and the storage of their gametes or embryos may only be extended with the written consent of the patients; and

(iv) the amended Code will request licensed centres to provide additional statistical data for regulatory purposes.
 
     Members of the public are also welcome to submit their comments on the above recommendations to the Council by post (The Secretariat, the Council on Human Reproductive Technology, Boards and Councils Office, Department of Health, Room 58, 17/F, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai) or by email (hrtc@dh.gov.hk) before the end of the consultation period. The Council will consider the views received before making the official final recommendation to the Government.