Hong Kong vows stricter checks on sea imports after radioactive food concerns
City to impose tighter checks on fresh produce in the light of loopholes that may have allowed radioactive food to enter market, officials say
Checks on fresh produce imported by sea will be tightened after a lawmaker exposed control loopholes that may have been letting radioactive contaminated food slip under the radar for years.
The government pledged to look into fresh produce arriving at the Kwai Chung container terminal - the only sea entry point for non-local food - after Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan highlighted lax safety inspections on site.
"We are now studying how to enhance inspection measures for food imported through sea routes," Vivian Lau Lee-kwan, director of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, said in response to comments by Wong published yesterday in a report by the South China Morning Post.
"We need time to review with the relevant departments."
The city has health officers stationed at the airport and land border-crossing checkpoints to conduct regular inspections.
But the Kwai Chung terminal had no food inspection office, Lau admitted.
She stressed, however, that officers had been in contact with Japanese food importers since an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 triggered a nuclear meltdown in Fukushima.