PLC Paper No. LS 61

Paper for the House Committee Meeting of the Provisional Legislative Council on 5 December 1997

Legal Service Division Report on Resolution under Section 29 of the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Cap. 138)

The Secretary for Economic Services has given notice to move the above resolution on 17 December 1997 to seek the Provisional Legislative Council approval of the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 1997 (懀he Regulation� made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.

2. The purpose of the Regulation is to replace the references of uly qualified veterinary surgeons�in the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations (Cap. 138 sub. leg.) with egistered veterinary surgeons� following the establishment of a system of registration of veterinary surgeons under the Veterinary Surgeons Registration Ordinance (96 of 1997) (懀he Registration Ordinance�.

3. 璌uly qualified veterinary surgeon�has been defined in the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Cap. 138) (懀he Ordinance� to mean a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons of Great Britain, or a person holding a diploma or certificate from a veterinary training institution or examining body prescribed by regulations under the Ordinance. Under the Registration Ordinance, qualification standards for registration as a veterinary surgeon will be decided by a Veterinary Surgeons Board. The Registration Ordinance has provided for consequential amendments to the Ordinance similar to the amendment proposed by the Regulation.

3. The Regulation will come into operation on the day section 16 of the Registration Ordinance comes into operation. Section 16 prohibits the practice of veterinary surgery or the provision of veterinary service unless such person is registered under the Registration Ordinance and holds a practising certificate currently in force. The Administration expects section 16 to take effect in early 1998 when the registration system is in place. The consequential amendments to the Ordinance will also come into operation on the same day.

4. The resolution is in order from the legal point of view.

Prepared by

Wong Sze-man, Bernice
Assistant Legal Adviser
Provisional Legislative Council Secretariat
3 December 1997

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