Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Carrie Yau says the Government is considering launching a voluntary registration system for local vegetable farms.

Speaking at a Legislative Council meeting today, Mrs Yau said the system will help the Government trace the source of vegetables containing excessive pesticides or other harmful substances. She said 90% of vegetables available in Hong Kong markets are from the Mainland, and the rest are provided by local farmers.

Although most local farmers sell their products through the Vegetable Marketing Organisation, some sell on their own.

The secretary said the system will help the Government conduct checks on local farms to prevent vegetables with problems from reaching market shelves. The public and the industry will be consulted on the issue later.

Monitoring system

Mrs Yau said there is a well established system on monitoring pesticide residues in vegetables, including those imported via Man Kam To and distributed through wholesale and retail markets.

"Vegetables imported from the Mainland come from registered farms and documents regarding the farms and pesticides used will be inspected at the Man Kam To Food Control Office. Samples will be collected at the import, wholesale and retail levels for testing the pesticide residues to safeguard public health."

Last year there were only 10 unsatisfactory samples among 20,000 collected.

The secretary said the organisation also conducts its own tests, and in the past six months, there were only six unsatisfactory samples among 9,000 tested.

When asked why there is a great difference between Green Peace's and the Government's results, Mrs Yau said the Government will contact Green Peace to learn more about its testing criteria.

Better tracking

Meanwhile, the Government has asked the two major supermarket chains to improve its tracking system and will discuss with Mainland authorities the possibility of making Mainland-registered farm information available online.

On the safety of fish products imported to Hong Kong, Mrs Yau said an interdepartmental taskforce has been formed to investigate why there have been 76 cases of Mainland freshwater fish being imported unattested with health certificates since January.