The President of China, Mr. Hu Jin Tao announced year 2006 the Year of Food SafetyThis escalated the issue of food safety to the national level, thus drawing on seriousattention from ali compatriots. Consumers’degree of trust towards food safety has been consistently under 50%indicating a very low degree of consumers’ trust towards the quality of food. This generatesa chain effect on all the associated issues, leading to a reduced degree of trust on the wholesociety overall. According to theory in Sociology, belief can be merchandised. In otherwords, we can treat belief` as a kind of social capital, as contrast to material capital, such asmoney or goods. In a society with a high degree of mutual trust, effective links betweendifferent organizations can be readily developed, leading to reduced transaction cost, andhence a long term low social cost. On the contrary, the increased transaction cost inherentin a society with a low degree of belief would pose severe hindrance on the developmentand growth ofthe whole economy, Therefore, from the sociology and publicadministration's point of view,enhancing social belief will lower social cost, therebyimproving social production and creating economy and market growth. This can be set asthe society's ultimate target. To draw upon national emphasis on the food safety issue, theState Council announced year 2006 the Year of Food Safety, with an inside meaning and afar reaching implication. The economy of Macau is highly extrovert. Its major export comes from the serviceindustry. Macau is a small city, with only limited natural resources. Recognizing its ownlimitations and relative strengths, the SAR government has been emphasizing on thedevelopment of gambling industry and tourism as the powerhouse of the economy. TheChief Executive of Macau SAR had clearly stated in his 2001 Policy Address that thestrategy of economic development would be centered around gambling, tourism, andconvention and exhibition in the upcoming 5 to 10 years. Safe food, good hygiene, good public order and a fair market are all important factorsto the society's development. In recent years, Macau's tourists mainly come from mainlandChina. lo attract tourists, we cannot afford to compete with China solely on the price ofgoods, but should instead compete on quality, on which we do maintain a leading edgeFrom the fact that mainland Chinese tourists prefer to buy health food and milk powder inMacau instead of from China, we can probably deduce that they have given us a vote ofconfidence on the quality and safety of food. To capitalize on this general touristimpression and confidence on food, we must ensure that Macau's food products are bothsafe and of excellent quality, Tourists do come to Macau to seek for food safety, and goodfood safety in turn boosts their trust, This will contribute to the sustainable development oftourism, benefiting the whole economic and social system as a result. In acau,the goverment, the public and the food product dealers are all puttingemphasis on food safety, To uphold food safety, different countries would establish theiown food safety systems. The generic system framework should cover various aspects inlegislation, management, monitoring and laboratory establishment. In Macau, there is stillmuch room for improvement on the associated implementation issues arisen from thegeneric food safety system framework. In order to identify the main segments for improvement in the food safety systemcurrently in acau,athorough research study must be conducted. The researchmethodology involves literature survey, theory formulation and hypothesis, data collectionand analysis, as well as comparison with case studies in our neighbor, namely Hong Kongand in advanced country,for instance, USA. With a thorough contextual analysis ofexisting food safety system in Macau and its possible future directions, strategies fosystem improvement can be derived and formulated. The main research objective of this proposal is to investigate the current food safetysystem in Macau, so that we can propose improvement strategies, study their impacts, aswell as define the future developing direction of the food safety system. This thesis is composed of four parts: conceptual analysis of food safety frameworkbackground analysis on similar fameworks elsewhere, outline of existing systems inMacau, and a critical assessment of the systems in Macau, It is organized into five chapters Chapter 1 is related to the conceptual analysis of food safety, including basic analysison the importance of food safety as well as an overview of the current situation, setting thestage for the research study. Chapter 2 & Chapter 3 contain a literature review and analysis on the background andstructure of generic food safety framework worldwide. These two Chapters dedicated to thecomparative study of two well-defined and comprehensive food safety systems, namely inthe United States and in Hong Kong. We pay special research attention to the similarity ofthe food salety systems in these two regions and their applicability to the system in MMacau In Chapter 4,we present the current food safety system in acau, as well as theassociated legislative systemm. Finally, in Chapter 5, we analyze and assess the food safety management and controsystem in Macau from different perspectives, and compare it with its counterparts in HongKong and the United States, Based on our findings, we project the future development of the food safety system in Macau and propose different mechanisms and policies to improve the quality of food safety. Food Safety, Key Words :Macau,Food Safety System

國家領導人胡錦濤頌佈 2006 年為中國的食品安全年,將食物安全的地位全面提 升至國家層面,同時全民均積極而正面的重視。 根據廣州的調查,消費者對食物安全性的信任度低於50%,反映出消費者對食物 的信任度低,隨之而來的對周邊產生的連鎖反應,使該社會的整體信任度亦會因而連 帶受打擊而降低,根據社會學的角度,可以將信任度商品化,將信任看作金錢及商品 等有價物質資本以外的另一種社會資本。在高度信任的社會,社會、社團聯繫便利, 商業交易成本降低,使社會成本長期降低。反之低的社會信任度,會使商業交易成本 加大,打擊整體市場經濟體系的正常發展。故從社會學及公共行政的角度出發,提高 社會信任度,從而降低社會交易成本,提升社會的生產、經濟及市場的發展,可以作 為社會整體追求的目標。亦為國務院頌佈將2006年為中國的食品安全年,將食物安 全的地位全面提升及引起全國積極而正面的重視。提出另一深層的意義。 澳門經濟為高度外向型,以出口服務業為主要產品,澳門基於地方小、天然資源 有限,特區政府早就看清自身這些客觀局限及優勢的資員所在,務實地將博彩及旅遊 業作為澳門未來經濟發展的龍頭。行政長官於2001年的施政報告中已明確澳門在未 來的5-10年的經濟發展定位於以博彩、旅遊、會議展覽等服務業為主體,帶動其他 行業的協調發展。 安全的食物,與良好的衛生環境,井然有序的社會,公平的競爭環境,均為社會 發展的重要基礎,澳門的旅客近年以內地旅客為主,本澳不能以廉價的飲食作為與內 地的競爭澳門,必須為本澳的食物業增值,講求質素及安全,以內地旅客來澳採購健 康食品、奶粉,可見一斑。旅客在本澳找尋食品安全,並信賴之。食物安全為旅客帶 來信心,有助旅遊業的可持續發展,對整體經濟及社會穩定有利。