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     Hong Kong Customs and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) have been carrying out joint enforcement operations since October 12 to inspect hairy crab retail outlets in various districts, with the aim of protecting consumer rights and upholding food safety by ensuring hairy crabs on sale in the market comply with the relevant stipulations and requirements under the laws.

     During the inspections, Customs officers and officers of the Centre for Food Safety and the Environmental Hygiene Branch of the FEHD monitored the sale of hairy crabs and also checked supporting documents for the place of origin and health certificates of the hairy crabs to ensure that the hairy crabs sold at retail shops are fit for human consumption and are in compliance with the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO), the Food Safety Ordinance, and the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance.

     As of now, officers of the two departments have inspected 42 hairy crab retail shops, and no irregularity has been found. The relevant joint enforcement operations will continue.

     Apart from carrying out inspections in the market, Customs officers also made use of the big-data analytics system to analyse and verify whether online shops selling hairy crabs had complied with the TDO, with a view to safeguarding the interests of consumers when making online purchases.
      
     Customs attaches great importance to the protection of consumer rights and will take appropriate enforcement action once activities in violation of the TDO are detected in the market. The department also reminds traders not to apply a false trade description to goods or services, or to supply or offer to supply goods or services to which a false trade description is applied. Those who violate the TDO are liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.

     The FEHD reminds traders that according to the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, all food available for sale in Hong Kong, whether imported or locally produced, should be fit for human consumption. Also, any person who operates an unlicensed food business or sells restricted foods without permission is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months. Under the Food Safety Ordinance, any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with the record-keeping requirement relating to movement of food commits an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for three months upon conviction.

     Customs and the FEHD remind traders not to import or put on sale hairy crabs with an unknown origin. Consumers should make purchases at reputable shops with the Shell Fish (Hairy Crab) Permit or relevant written permission granted by the FEHD.

     Members of the public may report any suspected violations of the TDO to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002) if they suspect that hairy crabs bought are of falsely claimed place of origin.

     In addition, if members of the public suspect that there are operators selling hairy crabs without the relevant permits/permissions or that the hairy crabs are not accompanied by health certificates, they may file a report to the FEHD by calling the hotline at 2868 0000 or through email (enquiries@fehd.gov.hk).
      
     

 

    

     ​The Lands Department today (October 15) posted resumption notices and acquisition notices in accordance with relevant ordinances to resume about 16.9 hectares of private land and acquire about 143 square metres of governm… read more

     A spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said today (October 15) that, in view of the Halloween activities to be held in Central from October 17 to 31, the department has stepped up street and public toilet cleansing services, as well as strengthened inspections and enforcement in Lan Kwai Fong and its vicinity, to provide a clean and hygienic environment for the public and visitors. 

     The spokesman said that the department has enhanced environmental hygiene services at these areas during Halloween and will closely monitor the situation in the district, particularly on event days and during peak hours of crowd flow, deploying manpower flexibly and adjusting service arrangements as necessary. 

     The FEHD has enhanced street cleansing and refuse collection services, including daily street cleansing at locations with heavy pedestrian flows, while streets at other locations are washed at least once a week. The department will also step up cleansing efforts at environmental hygiene black spots. 

     To cope with the crowds during the event period, the FEHD has increased the frequency of cleansing at the public toilets at Star Ferry Multi-storey Car Park, Queen’s Road Central, Ice House Street and Lan Kwai Fong, and arranged for toilet attendants to provide round-the-clock service at Lan Kwai Fong Public Toilet on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. 
      
     In addition, the FEHD has strengthened inspections and enforcement against illegal hawking, shopfront extensions and littering. The department has also stepped up inspections of food premises in Lan Kwai Fong and its vicinity, providing food safety and environmental hygiene education to restaurant operators and reminding them to handle refuse properly and maintain environmental hygiene. Additional manpower will be deployed during the Halloween period to strengthen inspections and take appropriate actions according to on-site conditions. 
      
     The FEHD will maintain close liaisons with relevant departments and event organisers, and take appropriate follow-up actions as necessary. The department appeals to food business operators to maintain good personal, food and environmental hygiene, handle refuse properly and avoid causing obstruction in public places. While enjoying the festive atmosphere, members of the public should also work together to keep the environment clean and refrain from littering. 

    

     Further to the external merchandise trade statistics in value terms for August 2026 released earlier on, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (October 15) the volume and price statistics of external merchandise trade for that month.

     In August 2026, the volume of Hong Kong’s total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 28.6% and 34.6% respectively over August 2025.

     Comparing the first eight months of 2026 with the same period in 2025, the volume of Hong Kong’s total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 29.1% and 30.0% respectively.

     Comparing the three-month period ending August 2026 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of total exports of goods increased by 2.1%, while the volume of imports of goods decreased by 2.1%.

     Changes in volume of external merchandise trade are derived from changes in external merchandise trade value with the effect of price changes discounted.

     Comparing August 2026 with August 2025, the prices of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 18.7% and 18.0% respectively.

     As regards price changes in the first eight months of 2026 over the same period in 2025, the prices of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 10.1% and 9.8% respectively.

     Price changes in external merchandise trade are reflected by changes in unit value indices of external merchandise trade, which are compiled based on average unit values or, for certain commodities, specific price data.

     The terms of trade index is derived from the ratio of price index of total exports of goods to that of imports of goods. Compared with the same periods in 2025, the index increased by 0.6% in August 2026 and 0.3% in the first eight months of 2026.
      
     Changes in the unit value and volume of total exports of goods by main destination are shown in Table 1.

     Comparing August 2026 with August 2025, increases were recorded for the total export volume to Vietnam (56.5%), Taiwan (53.1%), the USA (41.8%) and Chinese Mainland (the Mainland) (31.3%). On the other hand, the total export volume to India decreased by 2.5%.

     Over the same period of comparison, the total export prices to all main destinations increased: the Mainland (21.9%), Vietnam (15.8%), the USA (14.1%), India (13.1%) and Taiwan (13.0%).

     Changes in the unit value and volume of imports of goods by main supplier are shown in Table 2.

     Comparing August 2026 with August 2025, increases were recorded for the import volume from all main suppliers: Korea (166.9%), Vietnam (37.4%), the Mainland (31.4%), Singapore (26.4%) and Taiwan (7.0%).

     Over the same period of comparison, the import prices from all main suppliers increased: Korea (37.9%), Taiwan (30.2%), Vietnam (20.2%), the Mainland (17.4%) and Singapore (16.7%).

Further information

     Details of the above statistics are published in the August 2026 issue of “Hong Kong Merchandise Trade Index Numbers”. Users can browse and download the report at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1020006&scode=230).

     Enquiries on merchandise trade indices may be directed to the Trade Analysis Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3863 2599). read more

     In response to the Japanese Government’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department is conducting comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     From noon on October 14 to noon today (October 15), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 167 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the “aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt” category. No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS’s thematic website titled “Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan” (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).
 
     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 50 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD’s website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO’s website (www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24, 2023, to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 267 898 samples of food imported from Japan (including 166 765 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 57 060 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests. read more