Hong Kong close to lifting restrictions on milk power exports

Two-can export limit on baby formula might be removed.

Hong Kong is ready to begin “stress or pressure tests” that will determine whether restrictions on mainland purchases can be lifted in time for the approaching National Day holiday in the first week of October.

Gao Yongwen, chief of the Hong Kong Food and Health Bureau, said the stress tests will be conducted on overall supply, retail chain replenishment and pre-orders, among others.

Consultant firms in charge of the pressure tests will provide parents with tickets that they can use to buy baby formula in stores. If they are able to purchase a sufficient amount, then it will prove that the supply of milk powder is back to normal.

The restrictions on mainland purchases will likely be removed following this, said Lau Oi-kwok, chairman of HK General Chamber of Pharmacy.

The purchase ban came after mainland travelers almost emptied Hong Kong’s milk powder stock, after a food safety scandal that shook public trust in mainland brands.