HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 28 February 1990
香港立法局
一九九0年二月二十八日
18
Bills read the First time and ordered to be set down for Second Reading pursuant to Standing Order 41(3).
Second Reading of Bills
PROTECTION OF NON-GOVERNMENT CERTIFICATES OF ORIGIN (AMENDMENT) BILL 1990
THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY moved the Second Reading of: "A Bill to amend the Protection of Non-Government Certificates of Origin Ordinance."
He said: Sir, I move that the Protection of Non-Government Certificates of Origin (Amendment) Bill 1990 be read the Second time.
The Protection of Non-Government Certificates of Origin Ordinance was enacted in 1967 and was last amended in 1982. It provides for the better protection of certificates of origin issued by Government-Approved Certification Organizations. This Bill seeks to update and refine selected provisions of the Ordinance in order to render it more consistent with the present origin certification system. I shall highlight the principal proposals.
First, the powers of authorized officers. The powers to enforce the Ordinance, including search, seizure and detention, are vested with authorized officers, that is, those authorized by the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, and the police. Since the powers given to the police have never been used in practice and the authorized officers have been able to carry out their duties satisfactorily on their own, the Bill seeks to amend section 10 of the Ordinance to delete all references to police powers.
Secondly, penalties. The Bill seeks to raise the penalties generally for offences specified in the Ordinance from the present level of either $50,000 and one year's imprisonment or $100,000 and one year's imprisonment to $500,000 and two years' imprisonment. This serves to align the penalty levels with those for similar offences referred to under section 36 of the Import and Export Ordinance. The uniformity in the penalty level would in turn facilitate administrative efficiency in prosecution work.
Lastly, new offences. The Bill seeks to add three new offences to the Ordinance in order to enhance the deterrent effect of the legislation against malpractice and damage to the integrity of the Hong Kong certification system. The first offence relates to organizations dishonestly representing themselves to be government-approved certificate issuing authorities. The second concerns the