Loophole opens the door to radioactive food in Hong Kong, lawmaker warns
Lax safety checks at container terminal have allowed banned imports from Japan and elsewhere to enter Hong Kong, says lawmaker
Radioactive contaminated food may have been entering the city unnoticed for years because of deficiencies in safety controls on fresh produce brought in by sea, the South China Morning Post has learned.
Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan said food safety surveillance was too relaxed at the Kwai Chung container terminal - the only sea entry point for food from overseas - as it relied heavily on the importer taking the initiative.
Food imported by sea does not go through routine checks at the dock as the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has no food inspection checkpoint at the terminal. Food imported by air, however, is tested for radiation at the airport.
Food imported by sea is inspected by health officers only when it is moved to storage areas by importers, according to the department. This would allow some food importers to avoid inspection, Wong said.
She cited a case in January, when 10 boxes of Japanese carrots from Chiba, one of five prefectures from which imports of vegetables and fruits have been banned since the Fukushima nuclear power plant incident in 2011, entered the city by sea.
One box was sold and two other boxes were found for sale in the Yau Ma Tei wholesale fruit market when food safety officers acted on a complaint.