The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (September 17) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about an outbreak of low pathogenic H7N3 avian influenza in Stanislaus County, State of California, the United States (US), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products, including poultry eggs, from the county with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that Hong Kong imported about 142 000 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and 240 million poultry eggs from the US in the first six months of this year.

     "The CFS has contacted the US authorities over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE on avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.

     Hong Kong Customs seized about 1.1 kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $1.1 million from a male passenger arriving at Hong Kong International Airport on September 15.
 
     A 43-year-old male passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Cameroon via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on September 15. The man was found to be suspicious upon Customs clearance and was escorted to hospital for examination. The man discharged the suspected cocaine on September 15 and yesterday (September 16). He was then arrested.
 
     He was charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug and will appear at West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (September 18).
 
     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.
 
     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

  

     As Severe Typhoon Mangkhut has caused varying degrees of impact on schools, some schools need time to clean up and repair their premises and facilities. In addition, public transport services have yet to be fully resumed. Consequently, to ensure the safety of students, the Education Bureau has announced the class suspension of all schools tomorrow (September 18). 

     Under safe conditions, schools should keep their premises open and implement school-based contingency plans. Arrangements should be made for staff members to take care of students who have a genuine need to return to school in a safe place within the school premises. Parents should consider factors such as their home situation, road conditions in the vicinity and the care that their children need when deciding whether to send them to school.

     The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health today (September 17) reported that the suspected case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) pending results yesterday (September 16), upon preliminary testing, tested negative for MERS Coronavirus.

     â€‹Three restaurants, Chrisly Inn located at Queen's Road West, St Barts located at High Street and Bistro Du Vin located at Davis Street, violated the requirements of the statutory notices issued by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) by failing to reduce excessive cooking fume emissions. The restaurants were convicted on September 3, September 10 and today (September 17) respectively by Eastern Magistrates' Courts and fined a total of $40,000 for contravening the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (APCO).
      
     EPD officers conducted investigations into the three restaurants from April to November last year and found that all restaurants concerned failed to install proper cooking fume control equipment. The EPD then issued statutory notices under the APCO requiring the restaurants to install proper equipment to reduce their emissions by the deadline. After the specified date, it was found that the three restaurants had failed to comply with this requirement and continued to emit visible cooking fumes, which violated the requirement of the statutory notice. The EPD subsequently prosecuted the restaurants and continued to follow up on the cases. The emission levels of the three restaurants concerned had been improved noticeably this month.
            
     According to the APCO, restaurant operators should adopt effective measures to reduce cooking fumes emission within a specified time limit upon receipt of a statutory notice. First-time offenders are liable to a maximum fine of $100,000. A maximum fine of $200,000 and six months' imprisonment may be imposed on second or subsequent convictions.

     An EPD spokesman reminded members of the food business that the EPD would take enforcement actions against restaurants for cooking fume emissions according to the APCO. The responsible person of the restaurant should properly design and install appropriate and effective air pollution control equipment in the kitchens of food premises. They should also arrange for experienced technicians to clean, check and repair the equipment regularly to ensure no visible fumes or odours are emitted, so as to avoid causing air pollution and nuisance to the public.