Northern District Community Service Consultative Council vice deputy convener Kou Ngon Fong quoted Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) officials yesterday as saying that since November 16 last year the bureau had received more than 4,000 applications for the mandatory registration for takeaway businesses, 3,290 of which have already been licensed by the bureau.
The registration system was announced by the government last August and came into force on November 15 last year, which required takeaway shops operating in the city to obtain a registration certificate from the Municipal Affairs Bureau before they can run their business.
Kou made the remarks during a regular closed-door meeting of the government-appointed council at the Government Service Centre in Areia Preta.
According to Kou, takeaways must have physical shops to facilitate government supervision of various operational aspects, such as hygiene. At the same time, he added, after registering, all takeaways must inform the public about their registration information and conditions, even if selling on online platforms.
Kou also quoted the officials as saying that the bureau has so far inspected takeaway shops 2,200 times, and three of the shops were fined and punished for violating the system, for example, starting to run their business before their registration took effect. However, the officials described the overall operation of the registration system as “normal”.
Kou pointed out that the bureau will organise courses and lectures for takeaway shop staff, so as to raise their awareness of food hygiene and the registration system.
Northern District Community Service Consultative Council vice deputy convener Kou Ngon Fong (left) and fellow council member Wong Fai Si pose after yesterday’s council’s regular closed-door meeting at the Government Service Centre in Areia Preta district. – Photo: Yuki Lei
