Hong Kong imported about 1,000 tonnes of chilled pork on average each month last year, about 83% of it from the Mainland, Secretary for Food & Health York Chow says.

In a written reply to the Legislative Council today, Mr Chow said the Government has reached an agreement with the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection & Quarantine that the supply of chilled pork to Hong Kong and the number of processing plants can be increased according to market needs.

According to the Census & Statistics Department, an average of about 1,000 tonnes of chilled pork were imported into Hong Kong each month from January to November last year.

About 83% of chilled pork was imported from the Mainland, 15% from Thailand, and 2% from countries including Australia, France, Canada, the US, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands.

The Administration and the AQSIQ have set stringent inspection and quarantine requirements on chilled pork imported into Hong Kong. Slaughtering and processing plants in the Mainland must obtain a certificate of hygiene registration from the China National Regulatory Commission for Certification and Accreditation. Pig  farms are supervised by the local inspection and quarantine authorities.

Since August 2006, a total of four Mainland processing plants in Guangdong and Shenzhen have obtained approval for supplying chilled pork to Hong Kong. Officers of the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department have inspected these plants seven times. All hygiene assessment results were satisfactory.