Fewer than half of 363 makers of proprietary Chinese medicine in Hong Kong have conditions good enough to gain full registration. And only seven factories have a certificate of good manufacturing practice, the internationally recognised standard for drug makers.
As of June this year, 203 of the 363 makers of proprietary Chinese medicine still hold a transitional licence, while 160 have a full licence.
The transitional licences are given to manufacturers that started their operations in Hong Kong before January 21, 2000.
Those manufacturers need to satisfy a series of requirements to obtain a full licence, including having sanitary premises, a suitable environment regarding humidity, lighting, temperature and ventilation for manufacturing and storage areas, and adequate and suitable fittings and equipment.
Assistant Director of Health Dr Amy Chiu Pui-yin said the department planned to vet all the manufacturers for full licences within two years.
The department was pressed to speed up inspection of all the 500 manufacturers early this year after 11 of 153 Po Chai Pill samples were found to contain phenolphthalein, which can cause cancer, and sibutramine, which can cause blood pressure to rise.
Chiu said the total number of factories dropped from 500 to 363 in the past seven months.