. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/HKG/24/Rev.1 
30 October 2007  
 (07-4703) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION  
 
Revision
 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  HONG KONG, CHINA  
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:   Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), the 
Government of the Hong Kong Sp ecial Administrative Region 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Poultry eggs in shell and egg yolks,  as well as meat, poultry and game for 
human consumption 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable :  
Countries or places exporting poultry eggs in shell and egg yolks, and to a lesser extent, meat, 
poultry and game, for human consumption to Hong Kong, China  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:   Proposed Amendments to 
the Imported Game, Meat and Poultry Regula tions (available in English, 2 pages) 
6. Description of content:   
To amend the Imported Game, Meat and Poultry Regulations by: (a)  requiring import permit/licence and health certificate for poultry eggs (including shell 
eggs and egg yolks, but excluding egg or egg yolk in liquid or powder form) imported for 
human consumption; and 
(b)  requiring importers and distributors of game, meat, poultry and poultry eggs (including 
shell eggs and egg yolks, but ex cluding egg or egg yolk in liquid or powder form) to register 
with the FEHD before importing or distributing such food. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health, [   ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other 
damage from pests    G/SPS/N/HKG/24/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
  8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [ X ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:   Owing to spread of avian influenza in Asia and 
many other parts of the world, it is consid ered necessary to enact legislation to regulate 
imported poultry eggs to safeguard public health.  According to the World Health 
Organization (WHO), eggs from infected poultry could be contaminated with the virus and 
therefore care should be taken in handling she ll eggs.  The World Organization for Animal 
Health (OIE) has, in its revised guidelines on the control of eggs for human consumption, 
recommended that a health certificate with certain  conditions accepted by the authority should 
accompany the import of poultry eggs for control of avian influenza. 
Besides, recent incident in which a chemical dye prohibited for use in food, namely Sudan 
Red, was detected in food with egg yolk highlighted the need for regulating imported egg yolks in order to protect public health. 
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Proposed 
Amendments to the Imported Game, Meat and Poultry Regulations (available in English) 
10. Proposed date of adoption:   To be notified. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:   To be notified. 
12. Final date for comments:  60 days from date of issue 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:    
Trade and Industry Department 
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 
17/F., Trade and Industry Department Tower 700 Nathan Road Hong Kong Tel:  +(852) 2398 5398 Fax:  +(852) 2789 2491 
E-mail:  mdiv1@tid.gov.hk 
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notification authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:    
Trade and Industry Department 
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 17/F., Trade and Industry Department Tower 
700 Nathan Road 
Hong Kong Tel:  +(852) 2398 5398 Fax:  +(852) 2789 2491 E-mail:  mdiv1@tid.gov.hk