The Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department will upload to its website the supply and reference wholesale prices of fresh food products, including live pigs, Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow says. 

Dr Chow told the Legislative Council today the department started to uploaded the data today. The Government has also taken new measures to ensure a stable supply of live pigs and enhance the transparency of the live pig market's operation.

The Ministry of Commerce will notify the Government daily the number of live pigs to be supplied the next day. The Government will announce this to the public, to enable market buyers and retailers to have a clear picture of the live pigs supply, which helps stabilise the wholesale price. The Ministry of Commerce will also maintain a sufficient and stable supply of pigs to Hong Kong.

Dr Chow reiterated the agents' live pig sales are a business matter in which the Government will not interfere - as long as they are sold in an open and transparent manner.

The Consumer Council is investigating the unusual fluctuation in the auction price for a small number of pigs despite a stable supply. It will study every segment of the supply chain, the auction mechanism, business relationships between importers, wholesalers and retailers, and transparency of market information. 

Dr Chow said the supply of live cattle imports from the Mainland is generally adequate. An occasional blip in supply is due mainly to the lower selling price in Hong Kong, resulting in a lack of incentive for Mainland farms to export cattle here. The problem can be addressed through suitable price adjustments. 

Poor weather affects transport

As live cattle come from northern provinces such as Shandong and Inner Mongolia, livestock transportation can be affected by adverse weather conditions. Heavy snowfall in the Mainland has crippled their transportation recently. The supply was suspended on January 17 but has since resumed to an average level of more than  80 cattle a day.

The bureau will continue to monitor closely the supply of live cattle from the Mainland. It will ask the agent to take measures to minimise instability in supply, Dr Chow said.