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Public Order
through other channels, such as the visiting Justices of the Peace, the Ombudsman and Legislative Councillors.
Customs and Excise Department
The Customs and Excise Department is responsible primarily for the collection of revenue on dutiable goods, prevention of duty evasion, suppression of drug trafficking and abuse, prevention and detection of smuggling, and protection of intellectual property rights. The department also enforces legislation to protect consumer interests, safeguard and facilitate legitimate trade and industry, uphold Hong Kong's trading integrity and fulfil relevant international obligations. At the year end, it had 6,300 posts (see also Chapter 5).
Revenue Protection and Collection
The department collects excise duties from commodities stipulated in the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance: liquor, tobacco, hydrocarbon oil and methyl alcohol. It administers a licensing and permit system to ensure no dutiable commodities, whether imported or locally manufactured, are released for local consumption unless full duty has been paid. During the 2016-17 financial year, the department collected $10.3 billion in excise duties, a 4 per cent decrease from 2015-16.
The department assesses the taxable values of motor vehicles under the Motor Vehicles (First Registration Tax) Ordinance, resulting in the collection of $7.8 billion first registration tax by the Transport Department in 2016-17, during which 64,289 motor vehicles were first registered.
The Customs and Excise Department undertakes sustained enforcement action against illicit cigarette activities on all fronts and cooperates with overseas customs authorities to stamp out transnational cigarette smuggling, including monitoring suspicious shipments through intelligence exchange.
In 2017, the department handled 1,569 cases involving the smuggling, storage, distribution and peddling of illicit cigarettes, down 2.6 per cent from 2016, and seized 59 million illicit cigarettes. Under a Compounding Scheme, 6,390 people were fined for abuse of duty-free cigarette concessions, 4.9 per cent fewer than in 2016, involving 1.6 million cigarettes.
The department takes sustained action to stamp out illicit fuel activities. In 2017, it solved 35 illicit fuel cases, arrested 40 people and seized 353,400 litres of illicit fuel. There were 34 per cent fewer cases than in 2016.
Anti-narcotics Operations
The department takes vigorous enforcement action to prevent and suppress the unlawful manufacture, distribution and trafficking of dangerous drugs; to trace, confiscate and recover drug proceeds from illegal drug activities; and to prevent the diversion of chemicals used for the illicit manufacture of dangerous drugs. To combat cross-boundary drug trafficking, the department maintains close cooperation, exchanges intelligence and mounts joint operations when necessary with local, Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies. A mechanism of communication and intelligence exchange with the logistics industry is in place to strengthen
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