Annual Report 2014-15

28 FHKI Annual Report 2014-15 Operational Review 工作回顧 Q-Mark Certification The Hong Kong Q-Mark Council was established by the FHKI in 1978 with the aim of promoting quality assurance and environmental protection by encouraging local industries to be certified under its schemes. Under the leadership of its Chairman Bernie Ting, the Council made substantial progress in the year in further enhancing the Q-Mark brand. In May 2014, the Council was approved by the Hong Kong Accreditation Service (HKAS) as the certification body to operate the Hong Kong Q-Mark Food Certification Scheme. We are honoured to become the first organisation that has obtained such accreditation on food (sauce) from HKAS. In order to maintain impartiality of the accreditation scheme, a safeguard committee was formed and reported directly to the Federation’s General Committee on any issue affecting impartiality and confidence in certification. In the same month, the Council launched the first-ever Q-Mark Quality Micro-film Awards Competition. The competition, which was held in partnership with tertiary institutions, was open to students studying or interested in film. The winning micro-films will help showcase the Q-Mark brand and its relevance to our daily lives. The winning team was from Open University of Hong Kong, whilst the second runner-up and third runner-up went to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong respectively. Another new programme launched by the Council was the Q-Mark Elite Brand Awards. Over 1,000 people voted for their favourite Q-Mark brand via facebook in July. The Q-Mark Parent-Kid Chef Contest was held for the third year at the Food Expo. The Council also ran its own booth at the Food Expo in August; the Eco Expo Asia in October and November and the 49th Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo Fair in December. Three seminars were also organised during the year. In September 2014, the Council organised the Q-Mark 36th Anniversary cum Presentation Ceremony with Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam as the guest-of-honour. She presented Q-Mark licences to newly-certified companies. With the support of the Government’s BUD Fund, the Council continued to run for the second year the Q-Mark Support Scheme which provides funding support on pre-certification testing fee or consultancy service upgrade for first-time applicants of the Q-Mark Product Scheme or the Q-Mark Service Scheme. A Q-Mark interactive information web-based e-Centre was also set up under the BUD programme to promote the Q-Mark schemes and their certified brands to the Mainland’s buyers and consumers. Riding on the 14 th China (Guangzhou) International Food Exhibition and Guangzhou Import Food Exhibition in May, the Council set up a Q-Mark Brand Pavilion at the exhibition to promote Q-Mark products. A third seminar under the BUD programme was also held in June 2014 to explore ways to open up sales channels in the Mainland. Enhancing Competitiveness 提升競爭力 The Q-Mark 36 th Anniversary cum Presentation Ceremony Q嘜成立36周年暨准用證頒發典禮