Customs officials have refused to bow to lobbying from central government officials to lift a ban on three brands of mainland toothpaste.
On June 11 the department told consumers not to use the three brands and told retailers to stop sales after they were found to contain diethylene glycol.
The director-general of the Import and Export Food Safety Bureau of the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, Li Yuanping, yesterday met the assistant commissioner of customs, Chow Kwong, and the assistant director of health, Cindy Lai Kit-lim, to discuss the issue.
Before the meeting, Mr Li said he hoped the problem could be resolved with the Hong Kong government. He said mainland experts believed toothpaste with a diethylene glycol content of less than 15.6 per cent was safe to use. The brands in question have a diethylene glycol content of 0.21 per cent to 7.5 per cent.
'The bureau is highly concerned about the incident. We contacted Hong Kong customs immediately after it announced a recall of the toothpaste,' he said.
But customs rejected the bureau's request to resume sales.
Mr Chow said the meeting was very useful, with experts exchanging professional opinions and increasing their understanding.