Trade instructed to temporarily suspend importing and selling certain batches of raw oysters from French brand Josephine
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (April 8) instructed the trade to suspend the import of raw oysters from French brand Josephine produced and packed between March 5 and 25, 2026. The trade should also immediately stop using or selling the batches of the product concerned produced and packed during this period should they possess any of them.
A spokesman for the CFS said, "The CFS received a notification from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed of the European Commission on suspected gastroenteritis cases in the Netherlands that may be related to consumption of raw oysters from French brand Josephine produced and packed between March 5 and 25, 2026. For the sake of prudence, the CFS has immediately instructed the trade to temporarily suspend the import into and sale within Hong Kong of the raw oysters concerned. As a precautionary measure, the brand concerned has voluntarily removed from shelves the raw oysters concerned. So far, the CFS has not received any referral cases of food poisoning or food complaint related to ingestion of the raw oysters concerned."
The spokesman said the trade should also stop selling the raw oysters from French brand Josephine produced and packed during the above-mentioned period if they possess them. The CFS has also stepped up the collection of raw oyster samples for testing.
The spokesman pointed out that as oysters feed by filtering a large volume of seawater, pathogens can accumulate in them if they are grown in or harvested from contaminated water. Raw or partially cooked oysters are high-risk foods. Susceptible groups, such as pregnant women, young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems or liver diseases, should avoid eating raw oysters.
The CFS has informed the French authorities and also notified the local trade. It will continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action to safeguard food safety and public health. An investigation is ongoing.
Source: AI-found images
Land and Development Advisory Committee holds meeting
At its meeting today (April 8), the Land and Development Advisory Committee was briefed by the Development Bureau (DEVB) on the dedicated legislation to accelerate the development of Northern Metropolis (NM), as well as a premium waiver application in Ngau Chi Wan under the scheme of Facilitating Provision of Pedestrian Links by the Private Sector.
Members shared the views that the NM has entered the next stage for actual construction and development, and the Government should focus on facilitating and expediting topside developments, as well as promoting industry anchoring and operation. Members supported the Government to introduce dedicated legislation for the NM development, so as to further remove barriers in respect of planning and lands procedures in the NM, expedite construction works and facilitate industry operation, thereby enhancing the speed and efficiency in the development of the NM. The proposed dedicated legislation will comprise a piece of primary legislation serving as the main framework, and will specify the following six areas and delegate to the Chief Executive in Council the power for further enacting subsidiary legislation on the specified areas, as and when necessary, including:
Streamlining town planning procedures,
Expediting compensation payment for land resumed,
Facilitating the adoption of innovative construction technologies arrangement,
Streamlining the procedures and requirements for Construction Noise Permit applications,
Facilitating and regulating cross-boundary flow of elements, and
Establishing statutory corporations for designated areas.
Members agreed with streamlining town planning procedures, shortening the lead time required for processing changes to land uses or relaxing development parameters/requirements, as well as allowing longer temporary uses to at most seven years in NM, while at the same time the Government should consider the suitable tenure for the relevant temporary uses taking into account the actual circumstances and needs of the industries concerned, and avoid causing impacts on ecologically sensitive areas when expediting developments. Members also supported facilitating adoption of innovative construction technology arrangement, as well as continuously reviewing the implementation details and making adjustment in a flexible manner as and when necessary, so as to allow maximum flexibility for the development of NM. In addition, Members also agreed that the Government should continue to streamline development approvals through other administrative measures, including setting deadline for approval process and escalation mechanism, which would enable issues concerning approval for complex and large-scale projects be sorted out in an expeditious manner.
The Government would continue to solicit the views from stakeholders during the public consultation period with a view to introducing the bill of the primary legislation to the Legislative Council (LegCo) for scrutiny in the middle of this year, and to submit together the draft of the first batch of subsidiary legislation for the LegCo's preview. The Government also strives to have the bill passed by the LegCo within this year, and then formally submit the first batch of subsidiary legislation under the primary legislation to the LegCo for vetting.
Members were also briefed by the DEVB on an application in Ngau Chi Wan under the scheme of Facilitating Provision of Pedestrian Links by the Private Sector, which was introduced in 2017 to evaluate the benefits of pedestrian links proposed by the private sector to facilitate consideration of whether land premium chargeable on the relevant lease modifications is justified to be waived.
The application concerned the private residential-cum-commercial development at 35 Clear Water Bay Road (location plan at Annex). In addition to constructing pedestrian links according to the lease conditions to connect the development to Choi Wan (I) Estate uphill, the projector proponent also proposed further improvements to the pedestrian network vide this application, including constructing a pedestrian subway connecting the development project, Choi Wan (I) Estate, and nearby public facilities to Choi Hung MTR Station. Furthermore, the application proposed to reserve connection points within the development project to Choi Hung East Station of the future Smart and Green Mass Transit System in East Kowloon, as well as Ping Ting Road East Extension.
Members agreed that the proposed pedestrian links would improve area-wide connectivity and street walkability in Ngau Chi Wan area, providing round-the-clock and barrier-free access to various public transport facilities for residents and public facility users. Apart from serving residents of the development project, the proposal would also benefit residents of nearby public housing estates, as well as students and public facility users. Members supported the premium waiver for the relevant lease modification involved in this application, and recommended that the Government should specify the responsible party for the management and maintenance of the pedestrian links, opening hours of the proposed links, etc. when processing the lease modification and follow up matters relating to the capacity of lifts with the project proponent to ensure that the new pedestrian links and the relevant facilities could effectively perform their functions. The Government will take into account Members' views and work with the applicant and relevant government departments in taking forward the proposal.
Source: AI-found images
