The Hong Kong government (HKG) is going to launch a public consultation on a mandatory pre-market safety assessment scheme for genetically engineered (GE) food this year. Their latest thinking is to exercise control only at import level, implying that retailers and wholesalers will not be held accountable if they are selling any food containing GE ingredients which have not been registered with the Hong Kong authority. More details will be available when the consultation is released. There is no mandatory labeling regulation for GE products. The HKG continues to encourage the trade to follow the set of voluntary guidelines on GE products that was published in 2006.
