Hong Kong prisoners’ rights group suspends sales of mooncakes after frequent gov’t inspections
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong prisoners’ rights advocacy group has suspended sales of mooncakes, pastries traditionally given as gifts during Mid-Autumn Festival, after repeated inspections from government departments.
Waiting Bird, which was founded after the 2019 protests and unrest, wrote in a Facebook post last week that a warehouse it had partnered with had also been visited by government departments and had been closed.
In an emailed response to enquiries from HKFP, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said on Monday that it had conducted an investigation with other government departments on August 22, after receiving a complaint about suspected unlicensed mooncake packaging activities in a factory building in Kowloon Bay.
The FEHD said it had also received complaints about stores in Causeway Bay and Mong Kok that were thought to be running an unlicensed food business and had conducted inspections. Both cases were under investigation, it added.
Former district councillor and co-founder of Waiting Bird Derek Chu told HKFP last week that FEHD officers had visited the group’s shops in Causeway Bay and Mongkok “every two to three days” since mid-July.
Officers also asked for information regarding the suppliers and manufacturers of the mooncakes, as well as about relevant licensing, Chu added.
Waiting Bird said mooncakes sale had been “stable” this year while orders from overseas customers exceeded expectations, calling the string of inspections “a crackdown.”
According to Waiting Bird’s Facebook post, an FEHD officer said during one of the inspections that the department had received “a few dozen” complaints about Waiting Bird’s stores within a month, saying the frequency was “unprecedented.”
The group also said a factory it had partnered with in mainland China to make mooncake boxes had also been closed, while another mooncake box maker had received calls from unknown numbers claiming to know family members’ personal details and threatening “consequences” if they provided Waiting Bird with the products.
Waiting Bird added that customers who had ordered mooncakes during the pre-sale period could still visit its stores to collect them, while overseas orders had already been shipped.
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