Frequently Asked Questions

I want to import canned food from overseas to Hong Kong for wholesale/retail purposes. What are the licensing requirements?

Under the Food Safety Ordinance, any person who carries on a food importation/ distribution business is required to register with Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene (DFEH) as a food importer/ food distributor. The Ordinance also requires any person who, in the course of business, imports, acquires or supplies by wholesale food in Hong Kong to keep transaction records of the business from which it acquired the food and the business to which it supplied the food. For details, please visit the website of the Centre for Food Safety at 
http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/food_leg/food_leg.html, or contact the enquiry hotline at 2156 3017 / 2156 3034.   

For imports of canned food or prepacked food, the labelling of the packing must conform to the Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) Regulation. Subject to the exemptions, the Regulation requires the presence of nutrition label on all prepackaged foods. Nutrition label must include the information on energy and seven core nutrients, namely, protein, carbohydrates, total fat, saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, sodium and sugars. Furthermore, the nutrition label must list the amounts of any claimed nutrients. For details, please visit the website of the Centre for Food Safety at 
http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/food_leg/food_leg.html, or contact the enquiry hotline at 2868 0000.  

Under the Import and Export (Registration) Regulations, every person who imports or exports any article, other than an exempted article, is required to lodge with the Commissioner of Customs and Excise an accurate and complete import or export/re-export declaration within 14 days after the importation/exportation of the article. Prosecution may be initiated against any person who fails to lodge the required declaration. For details, please visit the website of Customs & Excise Department at http://www.customs.gov.hk/en/cargo_clearance/declaration/index.html, or contact the Customs Enquiry Hotline at 2815 7711.