Gov’t proposes draft revision of laws published before 1993

As part of the Macau government’s review of the 2,123 laws and decree-laws published between 1973 and 1993, 746 laws or by-laws have been deemed ineffective or expired. To rectify this issue, the government proposes to either repeal or revise them in two phases to properly adapt them in accordance with the Basic Law and the Law of Reunification, as well as rectify any inaccuracies between the Chinese and Portuguese versions.

Laws that have no reason to exist or have expired after 2019 will be repealed, according to André Cheong, Secretary for Administration and Justice, and spokesperson of the Executive Council.

In a press conference, Cheong said the government estimates that the process of reviewing, revising, and finalizing all the proposed changes will take up to a year.

The modification proposals are also expected to be put forth in the Legislative Assembly in the middle of next year.

In 2017 and 2019, the SAR government has confirmed in legal form that 746 regulations have been implicitly repealed or invalidated, and 17 regulations have been abolished that have no existing value.

Revisions on regulations on food additives

Due to the frequent use of food additives in the food industry, coupled with the health risks associated with long-term consumption of food additives, the Macau government has proposed new regulations that establish safety criteria for food coloring, sweeteners, preservatives, and antioxidants.

These regulations will follow international standards and criteria defined by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, and guidelines for food safety.

The regulations will focus on additives such as emulsifiers, acidity regulators, stabilizers, anti-caking agents, flavor enhancers, and others. In total, about 400 types of additives will be listed within these regulations, specifying the maximum dose of use to protect public hygiene and food safety.

The regulations will come into effect on May 1, 2024.