The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
 
     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (November 27) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, the Second Reading debate on the Supplementary Appropriation (2023-2024) Bill will resume. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.
 
     In addition, the Air Pollution Control (Amendment) Bill 2024 will be introduced into the Council for the First Reading and the Second Reading. The Second Reading debate on the Bill will be adjourned.
 
     On Members' motions, Mr Robert Lee will move a motion on promoting high-quality development to build China into a financial powerhouse. The motion is set out in Appendix 1. Ms Carmen Kan, Dr Tan Yueheng, Mr Edmund Wong, Mr Tang Ka-piu, Mr Chan Chun-ying, Mr Andrew Lam, Mr Adrian Ho and Dr So Cheung-wing will move separate amendments to Mr Lee's motion.
 
     Mr Luk Chung-hung will also move a motion on protecting platform workers. The motion is set out in Appendix 2. Mr Kwok Wai-keung and Dr Ngan Man-yu will move separate amendments to Mr Luk's motion.
 
     Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
 
     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Members of the public can watch or listen to the meeting via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website. To observe the proceedings of the meeting at the LegCo Complex, members of the public may call 3919 3399 during office hours to reserve seats.

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

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) welcomed the joint announcement of the Hong Kong Association of Banks, the Hong Kong Association of Restricted Licence Banks and Deposit-taking Companies, and the Hong Kong S.A.R. Licensed Money Lenders Association Limited (collectively as the Industry Associations) today (November 25) on the completion of the migration of consumer credit reference services to Credit Data Smart.

     The HKMA has been working closely with the Industry Associations to introduce more than one consumer credit reference agency (CRA) in Hong Kong, with a view to promoting the market competition of consumer credit reference services in Hong Kong, enhancing the service quality of consumer CRAs and reducing the operational risk of having only one commercially run service provider in the market, particularly the risk of single point of failure.

     The completion of migration of consumer credit reference services to Credit Data Smart marks a milestone in consumer credit reference services market in Hong Kong. The HKMA would like to thank the Industry Associations, the Platform Operator, the Business Operator, the consumer CRAs and other stakeholders for their effort in implementing Credit Data Smart.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (November 25) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Henry County of the State of Illinois and Stanislaus County of the State of California in the United States (US), 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 63 470 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 17.2 million poultry eggs from the US in the first nine months of this year.

     "The CFS has contacted the American authority over the issue 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.

     Police will implement special traffic arrangements on December 1 (Sunday) from 2.30pm to 4.30pm to facilitate the holding of a public parade in Causeway Bay.

Road closure
————

     The following roads will be closed:

– East Point Road;
– Great George Street;
– Westbound Kingston Street between Paterson Street and Gloucester Road; and
– Paterson Street between Kingston Street and Great George Street.

     Depending on the traffic and crowd conditions, the following roads may be closed:

– Sugar Street;
– Cleveland Street;
– Eastbound Kingston Street between Paterson Street and Gloucester Road;
– Gloucester Road between Causeway Road and westbound Gloucester Road service road;
– U-turn slip road between southbound and northbound Gloucester Road; and
– Southbound Moreton Terrace Flyover.

Traffic diversions
——————

     The following traffic diversions will be implemented until the road closure is lifted:

– Traffic along southbound Paterson Street must turn left to eastbound Kingston Street;
– Traffic along northbound Gloucester Road cannot turn left to westbound Kingston Street;
– When necessary, traffic along eastbound Yee Wo Street cannot enter Sugar Street;
– When necessary, traffic along Victoria Park Road Flyover heading to the vicinity of Tai Hang will be diverted via eastbound Victoria Park Road, Wing Hing Street, King’s Road and Tung Lo Wan Road;
– When necessary, traffic along Victoria Park Road Flyover heading to Tai Hang Road must turn right to westbound Gloucester Road;
– When necessary, traffic along westbound Gloucester Road cannot turn left to Cleveland Street and southbound Paterson Street; and
– When necessary, traffic along southbound Cleveland Street must turn left to eastbound Kingston Street.

Suspension of car parks
———————–

     Vehicles will not be permitted to access or leave the car parks within the affected areas from 2.30pm, until the road closure is lifted.

     All vehicles parked illegally during the implementation of the above special traffic arrangements will be towed away without prior warning.

     Actual implementation of the traffic arrangements will be made depending on traffic and crowd conditions in the area. Members of the public are advised to exercise tolerance and patience and take heed of instructions of the Police on site.

     â€‹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 November 22 to noon today (November 25), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 245 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 150 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, 2023, to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 101 914 samples of food imported from Japan (including 65 491 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 22 864 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.