The Legislative Assembly (AL) passed on Friday a government-initiated bill regulating the licensing of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) products in Macau – such as their production, import, export, wholesale and retail sale.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U introduced the outline of the bill during Friday’s plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle. Ao Ieong said that the bill aimed to better ensure the quality of TCM products in the local market, increase export competitiveness of locally manufactured TCM products, and promote the development of the city’s TCM industry.
The bill will be submitted to one of the legislature’s standing committees for review before it is resubmitted to another plenary session for its second and final debate and vote.
The government proposes that the TCM bill will replace a decree-law promulgated in 1994, which regulates local TCM pharmacies and local companies engaged in the import, export and wholesale of TCM products, but does not cover local factories producing TCM products.
According to Ao Ieong, the bill proposes that all kinds of TCM products will have to be registered before they can be sold in the local market.
According to the bill, all local TCM factories will have to meet the internationally recognised Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) in their production process in the future.
According to Ao Ieong, herbal tea products will not be regulated by the new bill, as long as they are not used in the treatment of diseases.
Health Bureau (SSM) officials said during the plenary session that herbal tea sold in herbal tea outlets will continue to be regulated by the city’s food safety law, the same practice as in the mainland.
The SSM officials also pointed out that there are currently 131 TCM pharmacies, 10 firms engaging in the import or export of TCM products, and five TCM manufacturers in Macau. A total of 266 people are working in local TCM pharmacies.
Ao Ieong said that the Health Bureau will set up a special unit tasked with the registration of TCM products in the future.
2021 budget bill passed
Meanwhile, the Legislative Assembly also passed the outline of next year’s budget bill during Friday’s plenary session, according to which the government will continue to run a budget deficit.
Introducing the outline of the 2021 budget bill, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong said that the government would allocate 26.5 billion patacas from its extraordinary reserves so as to fill the deficit. Lei said that the government had so far used about one-fifth of the Macau Special Administrative Region’s (MSAR) extraordinary financial reserves to fill the budget deficit caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy. The policy secretary said that before the government’s various COVID-19 measures which began to be implemented early this year, the extraordinary financial reserves stood at 440 billion patacas.
The bill expects the government’s revenues to reach 96 billion patacas next year, while the government’s expenditure is budgeted at 95.2 billion patacas – after being allocated from the extraordinary reserves.
Lei also said the government expected the gaming industry to generate 130 billion patacas in gross gaming revenue (GGR) next year. The industry pays up to 40 percent of its gross gaming revenue to the government as direct gaming tax and additional “contributions”.
Accompanied by senior officials under her portfolio, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U addresses Friday’s plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle. Photos: GCS
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong (centre, upper row) attends Friday’s plenary session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle.
