The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (September 29) that in response to a notification from the Irish authorities that razor clams caught from unclassified Irish waters had been imported into Hong Kong and the information provided by the Irish authorities showed that the affected razor clams came from Malahide of Ireland, the CFS, for the sake of prudence, has decided to ban the import into Hong Kong of all razor clams harvested from the area with immediate effect, to safeguard public health.
A CFS spokesman said, "The CFS was notified by the Irish authorities that two batches of razor clams caught from the above-mentioned unclassified waters had been imported into Hong Kong. The CFS immediately followed up with the two local importers concerned. According to the information provided by the importers, they were notified by the Irish suppliers earlier and all affected product had been disposed of. None of the products entered the local market. Preliminary investigation by the CFS revealed that the two batches of affected razor clams came from Malahide of Ireland, as shown on the relevant documents."
The spokesman added, "The Irish authorities also notified the CFS that another batch of razor clams suspected to be caught from illegal fishing had been imported into Hong Kong. As the product concerned may have come from unclassified waters, the affected product is being withdrawn by the supplier concerned. Six cartons of the affected product with a total weight of 120 kilograms have been imported into Hong Kong. The CFS has immediately followed up with the local importer and intercepted the affected razor clams at import level. The importer concerned has voluntarily surrendered the incriminated razor clams to the CFS for disposal. No affected product has entered the local market."
As the source of razor clams from Malahide of Ireland is in doubt and the CFS' investigation is still in progress, the Centre, for the sake of prudence, has decided to impose a ban on the import of all razor clams harvested from Malahide of Ireland with immediate effect so as to safeguard public health and food safety.
The CFS has informed the Irish authorities about the ban and will also notify the local trade, as well as continuing to closely follow up on the incident and take appropriate action.
Reprinted from HKSAR Government:
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201509/29/P201509290949.htm