Consultation Document on Proposed Amendments to the Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) Regulations (Cap. 132V) (the Regulations)

With a view to better protecting public health, facilitating effective regulation and promoting harmonisation between local and international standards, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region proposes, through legislative amendments, to enhance and update the Regulations.

We propose to amend the Regulations along the following directions/principles:

(i)  to replace the existing food categories of "all food in solid/liquid form" with specific maximum levels (MLs) targeting individual food/food groups, with a view to aligning with the Codex principle and modern international regulatory trends of specifying metallic contamination standards for individual food/food groups of significant dietary exposure;

(ii)  to adopt Codex MLs unless otherwise justified;

(iii)  to establish MLs for food/food groups which are of significance to the population in Hong Kong, China and for which there is no relevant Codex ML;

(iv)  to update the food descriptions and nomenclatures in the Regulations, with reference to the available Codex food descriptions and nomenclatures or those of other jurisdictions as appropriate; and

(v)  to incorporate interpretation of MLs into the Regulations, given that there is currently no interpretation in the Regulations on how the maximum permitted concentrations can be applied to food in a dried, dehydrated or concentrated form; as well as multi-ingredient products.