WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1980
2
+THE LAW AS IT NOW STANDS PRESCRIBES A MAXIMUM PENALTY OF $50 000 AND ONE YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT. THIS HAS REMAINED UNCHANGED FOR AT LEAST 25 YEARS AND, AS A RESULT IS NO LONGER CONSIDERED ADEQUATE WHEN THE VALUE OF THE COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS AND THE PROF ITS INVOLVED ARE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION. THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE IN CONNECTION WITH ATTEMPTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE TEXTILE QUOTA SYSTEM.+
HE SAID THAT IN 1979 EIGHT COMPANIES WERE PROSECUTED FOR SHIPPING GOODS TO A MARKET SUBJECT TO QUOTA RESTRICTIONS BY FALSELY DECLARING THEM TO BE DESTINED FOR A NON-RESTRICTED MARKET.
+THESE COMPANIES WERE FINED A TOTAL OF $350 000, HOWEVER THIS REPRESENTS JUST OVER ONE PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF THE GOODS INVOLVED, SAID MR TSAO.
+PUT ANOTHER WAY, HAD THE ATTEMPTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE QUOTA CONTROL SYSTEM SUCCEEDED, THE EIGHT COMPANIES WOULD HAVE BENEFITTED FINANCIALLY BY NOT HAVING TO SURRENDER THE QUOTA THAT THEY OTHERWISE WOULD HAVE TO SURRENDER.
+ROUGHLY CALCULATED, THE AMOUNT OF QUOTAS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SURRENDERED WOULD HAVE A MARKET VALUE THEN IN EXCESS OF $10 MILLION. SET AGAINST THIS BACKGROUND, IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT THAT THE FINES IMPOSED SERVED AS AN EFFECTIVE DETERRENT, HE SAID.
EXPLAINING WHY IT HAD BECOME EXPEDIENT TO TAKE THE BILL THROUGH ALL THREE STAGES AT THIS SITTING OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, MR TSAO SAID: +MY CONCERN THAT THE DETERRENT EFFECT HAS BEEN ERODED HAS RECENTLY BEEN HEIGHTENED BY WHAT I WOULD REGARD AS A RATHER UNUSUAL PATTERN OF TRADE.
+WHILE OUR GENERAL QUOTA UTILISATION RATE THIS YEAR HAS SLOWED DOWN, NOT SURPRISINGLY HAVING REGARD TO GENERALLY SOFTER MARKET CONDITIONS ABROAD, WE HAVE FOUND THAT IN PARTICULARLY POPULAR CATEGORIES OF PRODUCTS, THIS YEAR'S QUOTA UTILISATION RATE SO FAR IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN LAST YEAR'S.
+THIS GIVES RISE TO A SUSPICION THAT IMPROPER USE OF
HONG KONG'S QUOTA MAY HAVE BEEN MADE FOR SHIPMENTS FALSELY DECLARED TO BE OF HONG KONG ORIGIN, HE ADDED.
WHILE HONG KONG WAS STEPPING UP THE POLICING OF THE QUOTA CONTROL SYSTEM, IN PARALLEL WITH THE INCREASED VIGILANCE, A MORE EFFECTIVE DETERRENT, IN THE FORM OF HEAVIER PENALTIES, WAS URGENTLY CALLED FOR.
+THE TYPE OF MALPRACTICE THAT WE BELIEVE IS BEING PERPETRATED NOW NOT ONLY DEPRIVES HONG KONG THE FULL USE OF ITS LIMITED ACCESS TO ITS MARKETS, BUT WOULD ALSO CAST INTO DOUBT THE EFFECTIVENESS AND THE INTEGRITY OF THE ENTIRE QUOTA CONTROL SYSTEM, HE SAID.
+1 AM SATISFIED THAT THE PROVISIONS IN THIS BILL ARE ESSENTIAL, BOTH AS A DETERRENT AND AS A CLEAR DEMONSTRATION OF THE DETERMINATION OF THIS GOVERNMENT TO UPHOLD THE EFFECTIVENESS AND INTEGRITY OF THE QUOTA CONTROL SYSTEM,+ CONCLUDED MR TSAO.
/THE HON