Page 6 - HKRMA_Retailers 2013 Spring_130426_sp_2

本人反對政府緊急立法禁制36個月以下嬰幼兒奶粉 出口，主要是因為香港根本沒有出現政府所講的「奶 粉荒」。其次是香港開先例成為全球首個禁制奶粉出 口的地區，其實是付上了妨礙香港自由經濟貿易的代 價；三是規例不但未能達到立法原意，反而愈發展愈 遠離，甚至有直選立法會議員呼籲禁止在出境之後的 禁區售賣奶粉和取消一簽多行！

農曆新年前出現奶粉搶購潮其實已經是慣例，只是今 年的情況較往年為甚，以致部分地區出現買奶粉相當 困難的情況。然而，眾所周知，短缺的僅僅是某兩個 品牌供12個月以下嬰兒的產品。整體而言，市場的奶 粉供應相當充裕。只是在媒體的渲染下，連本地媽媽 都加入搶購潮，結果令市場更為緊張。

本來，這種供求失衡只需要在供應商和零售商之間協 調一下就可以解決，但議題卻被政治化了！被用作提 高民望的工具。於是，一條未經深思熟慮和認真研究 的粗疏法例就急急公佈了！

立法原意本是為了保障香港的母親能夠容易買到奶 粉，那參考比香港還早採取行動的澳門，利用一張 「奶粉購買卡」，為參與「母嬰臨時支援計劃」的嬰 幼兒提供每月保證的5罐奶粉即可。為何香港會採取 較為極端和複雜的立法呢？誠如我在傳媒撰文說，香 港除了不欲跟隨澳門「口水尾」之外，最主要是衞生 署正在草擬法例管制36個月以下嬰幼兒食品及用品 的宣傳，以鼓勵母乳喂哺，相關的《香港守則》更建 議禁止該等食品和產品供應商、零售商與母親直接接 觸。因此，政府才選擇不發出類似「保證奶粉供應」 的文件！

在討論法例期間，政府就完善供應鏈的標準開出四大 條件：整體供應及零售層面的補貨機制、訂購奶粉熱 線，以及在零售點預訂奶粉的機制。如果各方面都能 證明是完善的話，食衞局局長表示可以提早檢討有關 法例。

因此，本人已經與主要的奶粉供應商取得共識，供應商 會與各個零售層面加強合作，做到局長開出的四項條 件，並在即將來臨的五一黃金周進行測試。屆時，如 果個個環節都暢順，奶粉供應充裕和不會有本地媽媽 買不到奶粉的話，本人就會在立法會提出提早檢討有 關法例，希望早日將奶粉貿易恢復正常運作。

因此，本人希望香港零售管理協會能夠鼎力支持有關 完善供應鏈的工作。因為如果沒有連鎖零售店的參 與，供應鏈難以表明運作全面暢順，要求政府提早檢 討法例也理據不足。更重要的是，今次我們要維護 的，不單單是嬰幼兒奶粉這個產品，乃是香港長期賴 以發展的自由貿易精神，以及香港努力在國際所建立 的「購物天堂」美譽。如果零售業經營的優勢全部失 去的話，對香港零售行業的打擊將會無法想像！

The main reason for my strong objection to the Regulation which restricts the export of milk formula made for infants below three is simply because we do not have the problem of shortage as portrayed by the Government. Hong Kong also set a bad example by becoming the first jurisdiction to impose such a restriction by paying a dear price of compromising on free trade principles. The Regulation has also proved to be contradicting the original legislative intent. Some directly elected legislators even suggested discontinuing the issue of multiple entry permits for all Mainlanders. The heavy demand for infant milk formula during Chinese New Year has been a regular sight for years. The situation this year was admittedly worse than previous years and some customers did experience difficulties purchasing the product in certain districts. However, it was public knowledge that only two of the many brands of formula milk for infants under 12 months were in short supply. The overall market was normal and supply was abundant. It was the media which had fed the frenzy of shortage prompting anxious mothers to stock up resulting in even greater demand and more acute shortage.

Such imbalance of supply and demand should be tackled by improved coordination between the distributors and retailers. But the issue was over politicised and manipulated by some for political gains. As a result, a piece of legislation was rushed through without giving it thorough thoughts.

The original legislative intent of the Regulation was to ensure that mothers in Hong Kong would be able to lay their hands of infant formula as and when they need it. Macau, which experienced similar problems, introduced a card system whereby local mothers would be able to buy five tins of infant formula each month using the card. Why did Hong Kong take a much more drastic measure to deal with the same problem? As I explained in a recent article I wrote in the press, the Hong Kong Government does not want to follow Macau's suit and the fact that the Department of Health is currently drafting legislations to regulate the marketing activities of infant formula made for infant under three in an ef for t to boost breast feeding. The "Hong Kong Code" even proposed the prohibition of infant formula manufacturers from contacting mothers directly. The Hong Kong Government therefore decided not to adopt an infant formula milk supply guarantee system. During the debate of the Regulation, the Government proposed four areas of improvement on the supply chain of infant formula: overall supply, replenishment arrangements at retail level, operation of the customer hotline for placing orders and the pre-ordering system at retail outlets. The Secretary for Food and Health noted that if all these four areas have improved to a level that is satisfactory, the Government would consider an earlier review of the Regulation. I have therefore reached a consensus with infant formula suppliers urging them to strengthen cooperation with retailers to meet the four goals set by the Government and to test the market during the Labour Day golden week early May. If the supply situation is smooth and local mothers have little difficulties sourcing the product, I will urge the Government to advance the time of review in the LegCo. This would hopefully bring the supply and trading of infant formula back to normal.

I am therefore calling upon local retailers to support the initiative to improve the supply chain of infant formula. Any efforts to rectify the problem without the participation of chain stores would not be effective and we will not have convincing arguments to demand an early review of the Regulation. More importantly, we should remember that our objective is not merely the normal supply of infant formula but the upholding of Hong Kong's free trade principle. Hong Kong has been working very hard to build and maintain our reputation as a shopper's paradise. If the competitive edge enjoyed by our retailers was lost, the impact on our retail trade would be unimaginably severe.

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