The SAR government is in talks with mainland authorities about the issuance of certificates for melamine-free eggs exported to Hong Kong, said Secretary for Food and Health York Chow yesterday.

The government has been working closely with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine following excessive levels of melamine being found in eggs imported from the mainland, Chow said.

"We will continue to liaise with mainland authorities to ensure that they will trace the source of melamine and whether there are common factors that affect various suppliers," he said at the Legislative Council.

The SAR government has proposed to mainland authorities the issuance of melamine-free certificates for eggs to be exported to Hong Kong, he said.

The Centre for Food Safety has tested 96 egg samples in the past five days, 62 samples of which were from the mainland. Three of the mainland samples contained excessive levels of melamine.

Chow stressed that Hong Kong is a free market and the government cannot just ban the sale of products when they are found to be tainted.

While the trade is responsible for ensuring that their products are safe for consumption, consumers should take note of food alerts issued by the Centre for Food Safety, Chow added.

Meanwhile, the Hospital Authority (HA) will follow up confirmed renal stone cases related to tainted milk products for another one to two years together with the Food and Health Bureau and universities.

HA's chairman Anthony Wu said although more foods have been found to contain melamine recently, there has been a drop in the number of people seeking body check-ups.

Leung Pak-yin, HA's director of quality and safety, said as demand for medical examination has been decreasing, the authority has decided to close down a special assessment center at North District Hospital.

There are now eight assessment centers in the seven hospital clusters.

As of yesterday, 46,245 children have received check-ups for kidney stone at designated clinics and 16,303 patients at special assessment centers.

The clinics and assessment centers will be in operation until the end of March next year.

(HK Edition 10/31/2008 page1)