Cap.549
Chinese Medicine Ordinance
Governs the use of Chinese herbal medicines, practitioner registration and proprietary medicines.
The Scheme provides independent third-party assessment of herbal cuisine products and dishes available on the market. It rests on two supports: the floor set by Hong Kong’s existing statutory framework, and the substantive judgement of industry experts on formulation and dietary concept.
Authentication is not a permanent mark. Each authentication carries a certificate number and a defined validity period, is subject to annual surveillance, and is marked expired on the public register if not renewed.
Statutory basis
Three ordinances underpinning the scheme
The scheme does not replace statutory regulation; it layers substantive expert assessment on top of it.
Cap.132
Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance
Sets the framework for food safety, composition and labelling.
Cap.231
Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance
Restricts health and efficacy claims, determining what marketing copy may and may not say.
Professional endorsement
Every application is assessed twice over — by a registered Chinese medicine practitioner for formulation and dietary concept, and by a food technologist for safety, labelling and production. A certificate is issued only when both pass it.
Tiers
Two authentication tiers
Star Herbal Product Authentication
For pre-packaged herbal foods, tea and soup packs, and herbal pastes sold at retail.
- Review of formulation and ingredient sourcing
- Verification of HOKLAS-accredited laboratory reports
- Compliance check of packaging, labelling and inserts
- Assessment of dietary-concept wording
Quality Herbal Cuisine Authentication
For freshly prepared herbal dishes and set menus served in restaurants.
- Licence and kitchen hygiene verification
- Assessment of formulation and seasonal suitability
- Consistency of output and supply-chain traceability
- Review of menu descriptions and in-store materials
Process
Four steps
Typically six to eight weeks from submission to certification, subject to supplementary information and testing.
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01
Nomination and submission
approx. 1–2 weeks
Submit the form with business registration, licences, labelling artwork and lab reports; the Secretariat checks completeness.
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02
Expert assessment and testing
approx. 2–3 weeks
Registered practitioners and food technologists assess dietary concept and food safety; supplementary testing may be arranged.
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03
Approval and certification
approx. 1 week
On approval a certificate number and validity period are issued and published on the public register the same day.
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04
Annual surveillance and review
ongoing
Monitoring continues throughout; renewal must be filed at 11 months, and lapsed records are marked expired on the register.
Application
Product authentication application
Form HKHMS-A01. Please complete accurately; attachments may follow later but will affect the assessment timeline.
PLACEHOLDERPhase 1: the form runs in demo mode and does not send email. It will be switched on once the client supplies a recipient address.