Hong Kong proposes regulation to control pesticide residues in food

Hong Kong has proposed a new regulation to control pesticide residues in food to better safeguard public health.

Although Hong Kong currently has general provisions that all food sold for human consumption must be wholesome, unadulterated and suitable for consumption, there is no regulation that controls the level of pesticide residues in food.

A Hong Kong Food and Health Bureau spokesman said the new regulation is aimed at protecting public health, facilitating effective regulatory control and promoting harmonisation between local and international standards.

The government is proposing the Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance.

It will define pesticides and other related terms in line with Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), the international food standard setting authority, and also adopts Codex’s classification of foods, thus making the nomenclatures similar to those used in international trade.

The regulation outlines the maximum residue limits (MRLs) and extraneous maximum residue limits (EMRLs) for certain pesticide-food pairs.

It also features a list of exempted pesticides, which includes natural pesticides and their residues that are identical to or indistinguishable from natural food components.

Apart from the exempted pesticides, the import and sale of food containing pesticide residues with no MRLs/EMRLs will be permitted only if the consumption of the food is not dangerous to health.

The Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene will perform a risk assessment in order to decide whether the consumption of the food concerned is dangerous to health.

To allow sufficient time for the industry to follow the regulation, the government has set a grace period of two years, during which the Centre for Food Safety will offer briefings, training and guidelines for different sectors.

The regulation will be tabled in the Legislative Council on 9 May 2012, and will come into effect beginning 1 August 2014. It is planned to be updated regularly in response to new pesticides with wider applications on crops.