A press conference is held about the annual summary of the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, at the Customs Headquarters Building in Hong Kong on March 27, 2024. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
Hong Kong will launch a designated air-land fresh-produce express route to assist in the export of quality food products from the Chinese mainland to overseas markets, and to bring in fresh produce from overseas to the mainland, in the second quarter of this year, the city’s customs chief said on Wednesday.
The initiative is part of the city’s ongoing efforts to enhance cargo efficiency and facilitate the rapid transshipment of cargo to and from various places in the mainland, including the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the hinterland areas such as the provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi, Henan and Sichuan, all of which have fresh produce available in abundance.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Louise Ho Pui-shan, commissioner of Hong Kong Customs and Excise, revealed that these new initiatives will be able to save time on customs clearance thanks to the aid of technology.
The new express route will facilitate the rapid transshipment of cargo between overseas markets and the Greater Bay Area and open up the development of logistics and freight transportation in the western part of the GBA, as well as create more business opportunities and spur local economic development, said Louise Ho Pui-shan, commissioner of Hong Kong Customs and Excise
In particular, the new express route, established in collaboration with the Zhuhai government, makes full use of the Hong Kong International Airport and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. It will facilitate the rapid transshipment of cargo between overseas markets and the Greater Bay Area and open up the development of logistics and freight transportation in the western part of the GBA, as well as create more business opportunities and spur local economic development, Ho said.
On Feb 23, China’s General Administration of Customs approved the establishment of designated regulatory sites for imported fruits, frozen aquatic products and edible aquatic animals at the Zhuhai port of the HZM Bridge. At a news conference, the Zhuhai government pledged to complete construction by May, providing infrastructure for importing cold-chain products across the bridge.
Another scheme, the Single E-lock Scheme — which allows Hong Kong and the mainland customs departments to conduct real-time monitoring of shipments using e-locks and GPS technology without duplicate inspections — has also been expanded to Hunan province, the second mainland province to be included.
Ho said the scheme will be further expanded to Jiangxi, Henan and Sichuan provinces in the future.
In March, the city also launched the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Three-Places-One-Lock Scheme to enhance efficiency. The technology used in this scheme is also used in the Alternative Smoking Product Transshipment Control Scheme, which was rolled out in June 2023, Ho said.
Ho also reviewed the department’s law enforcement actions in 2023, which saw a substantial increase in complaints about malpractice concerning sales at drugstores, as well as an increase in drug trafficking cases, after the city reopened its borders and resumed normal travel with outside world.
Louise Ho Pui-shan, commissioner of Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, speaks during a press conference about the annual summary at the Customs Headquarters Building in Hong Kong on March 27, 2024. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
The department had received 535 cases of unclearly priced unit labels on ginseng, dried seafood and Chinese herbal medicines in drugstores, of which 84 percent were from mainland visitors.
In response, the department deployed a team to handle and follow up on reports from short-stay visitors, with a total of 201 complaints handled last year, and eight drugstore clerks arrested.
The department has also publicized common malpractice cases at drugstores to mainland tourists, and has carried out inspections of stores together with the Hong Kong Tourism Board to promote compliance with the regulations to merchants, Ho added.
According to Ho, in 2023 the department prosecuted 19,120 law enforcement cases — an increase of 1.7 times compared with 2022. It also saw a 48 percent jump in the total value of goods seized, amounting to HK$10.57 billion ($1.35 billion), and made a total of 15,589 arrests — an increase of 2.5 times compared with 2022.
Drugs were detected in 1,362 of these cases, representing a 46 percent year-on-year growth, and about 9.5 tons of drugs were seized, representing an increase of 37 percent over 2022; seven of these cases involved drugs with a value of more than HK$100 million.
In 2023, the city’s recorded 221 smuggling cases, slightly lower than that in 2022, but the money involved reached HK$3.17 billion, 1.4 times more than the year before.
