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On April 6, the Hong Kong government announced that during precautionary testing at the point of import, the packaging sample of a Brazilian offal shipment tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

The Hong Kong government notified the World Trade Organization that it adjusted the ban on commercial imports of live rodents and lagomorphs to cover only commercial imports of live hamsters effective on April 1, 2022. In 2021, Hong Kong’s global imports of small mammals grew 14 percent to $2.5 million.

On March 15, 2022, ATO Hong Kong gave a virtual lecture on U.S. foods and agriculture at Polytechnic University. The lecture reached around 80 students from different majors as part of the University’s course “Evolution of World Cuisine.” Organized by ATO, this platform also allowed U.S. Wheat Associates, USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, U.S. Dairy Export Council, and the Raisin Administrative Committee to participate and introduce their products.

Hong Kong continues to take random tests on imports of chilled and frozen foods and their packaging for the COVID-19 virus.

In the past, the eligibility of food and non-food products containing cannabidiol (CBD) in the Hong Kong market has been ambiguous.

To compete with live pig supplies from China, Hong Kong local farms are looking for quality breeding stock. The United States is one of their few preferred sources.

Detections of two COVID cases among Hong Kong drivers transporting vegetables from mainland created a backlog of vegetable trucks at the border and shortened Hong Kong vegetable supplies over the weekend.

The Hong Kong government ordered the culling of 2000 hamsters in Hong Kong. The order was issued over fears of an animal-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 virus after a pet shop saleswoman tested positive for the Delta variant, and samples collected from hamsters at the pet shop were also positive.

In response to Hong Kong’s new quarantine requirements on locally based cargo crew, on December 30, 2021, Cathay Pacific airlines announced the suspension of all long-haul cargo and cargo-only passenger flights until January 6, 2022.

Despite its small population at 7.5 million, Hong Kong is the sixth-largest export market for U.S. consumer-oriented agricultural products. Hong Kong has always been an attractive market for innovative U.S. food and beverage products as well as a gateway to the region.

Healthy eating is the growing trend in Hong Kong embraced by both the government and the general public. In this context, the Hong Kong government is encouraging the trade to use less salt and sugar for foods by introducing a voluntary “Salt/Sugar” label scheme for prepackaged food products.

In September 2021, the Hong Kong government decided not to launch a scheme requiring pre-market safety assessments for biotech events initially proposed in 2013. Hong Kong did not have any policy changes on regulating genetically engineered (GE)...