Assistant Minister of Commerce Tong Daochi led a delegation to Macao and inspected the supply of agricultural and sideline products to Macao by interior areas on February 9 to 10. The Delegation held talks with the Secretariat for Economy and Finance, the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau and the Administration and Finance Division of the Macao SAR Government and the agencies, and made a field inspection of the market supply of Macao.
Tong said that, the central government has always attached great importance to the supply of agricultural and sideline products to Macao. Related ministries, and provincial and municipal governments have established a very close and fruitful mechanism for communication with the Macao SAR Government for a long time. At the same time, the interior areas have cultivated a long-term and steady operation team and built bases of high-standard production and processing for supply to Macao. Only those plantations and farms that have been registered and recorded by inspection and quarantine authorities could export to Macao, so as to ensure that citizens in Macao can enjoy safety food. In 2014, the Ministry of Commerce, cooperating with the Customs, quality supervision departments and major provinces, agencies and export enterprises, adopted a series of measures to positively assist the Macao SAR Government to combat the bird flu, strongly ensuring the steady supply of agricultural and sideline products to Macao. In 2014, the interior areas supplied a total of 340,000 tons of products and sideline products to Macao valued US$ 390 million, up 4.8% and 9.7% respectively, among that there were 109,000 live pigs ( up 3.3%), 1,926 live oxen (up 1%) and 2.21 million live chicken (down 16%). Due to the bird flu in parts of intrior regions, the supply of live chicken decreased and was suspended once. Exports of grain food, vegetables, eggs, milk and drinking water kept steady.
During the visit, Tong also inspected Nanyue Wholesale Market and Youhan Street Market, inquiring about the supplies and sales of meat, vegetables, fruits and aquatic products in details, especially their sources, quality and price.
With the approaching of the 2015 Spring Festival is, the Ministry of Commerce has made plans and put forward five measures, including active organization of sources, initiation of emergency plans, strict prevention of epidemic disease, strengthening of service and establishment of a 24-hour contact mechanism to make every effort to ensure the stability of supply to Macao with a good quality during the festival.
