Hong Kong's Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, York Chow announced yesterday that the ban on frozen pork imports from Sichuan and Henan provinces, and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province would be lifted today.

Citing the latest findings of the three-member Hong Kong expert team that was sent to Sichuan Province on Monday, York Chow said all registered export pig farms met with health inspection and quarantine requirements of Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.

The fatal pig-borne disease Streptococcus suis has been brought under control, Chow added.

"We will resume handling import applications tomorrow," Chow said after a meeting with Li Changjiang, minister of the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Pork exports from Ziyang and Neijiang in Sichuan were suspended on July 25, following an outbreak of the swine-borne disease that has so far killed 38 people.

According to an evaluation report jointly issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health on Sunday, the disease is now under effective control. "Pork from Sichuan, including previously disease-stricken areas, is safe and up to standard," Li said.

Li said the recall of Henan-origin frozen pork from Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, on August 15, was a precautionary measure.

In related news, York and Li's meeting also covered the issue of malachite green, a toxic chemical that has been found in imported aquatic produce in Hong Kong. Li said the affected produce might have been smuggled from the mainland or imported from other countries.

"We're very strict on the management, production and quarantine of food bound for the special administrative region," Li said. "We've banned the use of malachite green since 2002 and all exports of aquatic produce are carefully checked for the chemical."

Inspection and quarantine procedures for fish and other freshwater produce have since been expanded, and all freshwater fish exported into Hong Kong must be stamped with a health certificate.

Malachite green is a cheap pesticide and fungicide.

(China Daily August 24, 2005)