2
to keep any inconvenience caused to the minimum.
We welcome
the Administration's assurance that cases of detention in situ
have been infrequent in the past, and that it usually needs to
We are
detain the goods for no more than a few days only.
therefore of the view that an additional provision to require
that the written consent of the owner of the premises or
container, or his authorized agent be sought if the period of
detention of the goods exceeds a week should be sufficient
safeguard and satisfactory to all parties concerned.
Section 16B deals with the powers of arrest and entry
for authorised officers, who in practice will be Industry
Officers in the Customs and Excise Department.
We trust that
this provision will streamline the enforcement and administration procedures involved in implementing the Trade
Descriptions Ordinance but we are also concerned with seeing to
the best possible deployment of financial and human resources
in the Department. A value-for-money study of the Department
may be a first step.
Section 30 as drafted contains no obligation on the
part of the Administration to inform the owner of suspected
goods of any forfeiture proceedings if the owner is not
prosecuted. We consider however, that unless the owner of the
goods has indicated to the Administration that he need not be
so informed, the Administration should provide a written