One of the Hong Kong daily papers recently ran an editorial supporting the Hong Kong government's food labeling proposal, gazetted on April 3. I was pleased to see that to illustrate the desirability of a quality labeling regime, the paper used a U.S. nutrition label. We consider the U.S. regime to be among the best and most demanding in the world, and want consumers to have good information about what they eat. The irony here, though, is that under the proposal in its current form, many American products bearing that label will be effectively excluded from the Hong Kong market.

One of the pillars of Hong Kong's status as an international city is the tremendous variety and quality of its food choices. The cosmopolitan makeup of Hong Kong's population and its pragmatic regulatory regime have given its residents access to the newest, the finest and the healthiest products the world has to offer. This appealing characteristic will change if the labeling proposal takes effect as currently written. Though well-intentioned, the proposal will significantly reduce the variety of healthier food choices for Hong Kong consumers. It will also raise prices and contribute to inflation. (more)