HKC385/1
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HONG KONG/AUSTRALIA DRUG TRAFFICKING AGREEMENT NEGOTIATION
Speaking Note
1.
On 2 November 1990 the British side informed the Chinese side that it was intended that Hong Kong should enter into agreements with a number of other jurisdictions with whom it is necessary to increase co-operation in the investigation of drug trafficking and the confiscation of the proceeds of drug trafficking. British side undertook to inform the Chinese side before concluding such further agreements.
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2. I should accordingly like to inform you today that the British side intends that Hong Kong should enter into a bilateral agreement with the Government of Australia to provide mutual assistance in the seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of drug trafficking. The agreement will run for an initial period of three years, after which it may be extended annually by mutual consent. It is not intended that the agreement should continue beyond 1997.
3.
As previously mentioned it is the intention that such time- limited agreements should in due course be subsumed in the broader mutual legal assistance arrangements, on which consultation with the Chinese side was begun at JLG XVI.