Commonground
Senior Moderator
Ends/Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Following is a question by the Hon Chan Pok-chi and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (March 25):
Question:
The Recommendations for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly propose "enhancing the overall production capacity of agriculture", that "fresh headway should be made in keeping our skies blue, waters clear, and lands clean", as well as "pressing ahead with initiatives to invigorate the seed industry"; and the Ecological and Environmental Code, which was endorsed at the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress on the 12 of this month, sets out mandatory provisions concerning the prevention and control of pollution from livestock and poultry farming and slaughtering, the fostering of resource recycling, ecological protection as well as the strengthening of food security, etc. There are views that Hong Kong should dovetail with the strategic arrangements on national agricultural development to promote the standardised implementation and high-quality development of local poultry and livestock farming projects. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
-snip-
2) In terms of disease surveillance, local livestock farms are regulated under the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Licensing of Livestock Keeping) Regulation (Cap. 139L), and are required to implement disease surveillance (such as African Swine Fever (ASF) testing in pig carcasses) and biosecurity measures, etc, in accordance with the requirements of livestock keeping licences. The AFCD has been strictly monitoring animal health and public health conditions at local livestock farms and implementing a host of ongoing prevention and control measures, such as arranging regular testing (including ASF virus testing), to ensure early detection and management of potential risks of disease.
continued: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202603/25/P2026032500252.htm
Following is a question by the Hon Chan Pok-chi and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (March 25):
Question:
The Recommendations for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly propose "enhancing the overall production capacity of agriculture", that "fresh headway should be made in keeping our skies blue, waters clear, and lands clean", as well as "pressing ahead with initiatives to invigorate the seed industry"; and the Ecological and Environmental Code, which was endorsed at the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress on the 12 of this month, sets out mandatory provisions concerning the prevention and control of pollution from livestock and poultry farming and slaughtering, the fostering of resource recycling, ecological protection as well as the strengthening of food security, etc. There are views that Hong Kong should dovetail with the strategic arrangements on national agricultural development to promote the standardised implementation and high-quality development of local poultry and livestock farming projects. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
-snip-
2) In terms of disease surveillance, local livestock farms are regulated under the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Licensing of Livestock Keeping) Regulation (Cap. 139L), and are required to implement disease surveillance (such as African Swine Fever (ASF) testing in pig carcasses) and biosecurity measures, etc, in accordance with the requirements of livestock keeping licences. The AFCD has been strictly monitoring animal health and public health conditions at local livestock farms and implementing a host of ongoing prevention and control measures, such as arranging regular testing (including ASF virus testing), to ensure early detection and management of potential risks of disease.
continued: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202603/25/P2026032500252.htm