Hong Kong will implement “Regulation on Pesticide Residue in Food” on 1st August 2014. Non-compliant food commodities are not permitted to be imported, produced or sold in Hong Kong with violations subject to a fine of HKD 50,000 or 6 months custodial sentence.
As the most stringent local MRL regulation in Hong Kong, the regulation was approved by Hong Kong government in Jun 2012. It contains 7083 limits of 360 active ingredients in 584 kinds of food commodity, consisting of 5380 limits in 514 kinds of plant-sourced food and 1703 limits in 70 kinds of animal-sourced food. Nearly 76% of the limits were at or below 1 mg per Kg and the distribution of the MRLs is in the table below:
If an active ingredient is non-residual, or the residue is identical to the natural component in food, or the residue of the active ingredient presents no health risks, it can be exempted from the MRL regulation. Totally 78 active ingredients were listed as exempted pesticides. Most of them are botanical, microbial and biochemical pesticide or inert chemicals. In addition, the regulation also established extraneous maximum residue limit (EMRL) for six pesticides already banned in many countries: aldrin & dieldrin, DDT, BHC, chlordane, heptachlor and endrin.
Depending on the active ingredient, Hong Kong adopts different over food commodities:
If the active ingredient is listed as an exempted pesticide, its residue in food can be exempted from the Regulation;
If the active ingredient is not an exempted pesticide and the regulation established definite limit of the active ingredient in food/commodities, the residue should not exceed the limit stipulated in the Regulation;
The active ingredient is not a exempted pesticide and the Regulation has not yet established the MRL for the active ingredient, any level of its residue in food will be identified as violation unless it is shall be proved that the residue is harmless ;
Hong Kong policy makers referenced China’s GB 2763. However Hong Kong’s regulation is distinct from GB 27463 in both residue definition and classification of food commodities. 86% of the MRLs in Hong Kong’s Regulation are not yet established in GB 2763, including187 of the regulated active ingredients have already been registered with ICAMA.
