A government laboratory chemist has been seconded to the Innovation & Technology Commission to help speed up the process of giving accreditation for food testing to private laboratories, Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow says.

Dr Chow today told lawmakers the Government Laboratory will monitor market developments and organise technical seminars, laboratory proficiency tests and inter-laboratory comparison studies as necessary, to help enhance local private laboratories' food testing capability.

He said seven such laboratories are now offering melamine testing services to the trade and another six are preparing to provide such services.

Food with excessive melamine

Noting the Government is deeply concerned about the melamine incident, Dr Chow said all food products that had unsatisfactory results have been withdrawn from the local market.

"For food products with unsatisfactory test results of melamine, should the same products of milk, milk beverage and frozen confections be imported again in future, they will be subject to 'hold and test' by the Centre for Food Safety until their test results are satisfactory.

"As for products of other categories, the centre has written to the importers and sole agents, requiring them to provide quality verification or laboratory certificate before importing the same products into Hong Kong, so as to ensure that the products concerned are in compliance with our legislation on food safety and food standard. The centre will also collect samples for testing as necessary."

The measures will continue until the products concerned meet the statutory food-safety requirements. Thereafter, testing on the products will continue under the centre's routine surveillance programme.

Food safety law

The secretary said a legislative amendment empowering the Government to exercise an order to ban the sale and import of problematic food, and to recall and destroy the food, will be introduced to the Legislative Council on November 5.