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Environmental Protection Department estimates that the new measures will only have a negligible effect on the retail price of unleaded petrol whereas the retail price of motor diesel will increase by 3% or $0.2 per litre.
The amendments will affect newly registered vehicles only. EPD estimates that some vehicle models are already able to meet the new emission requirements and no cost increase will thus be incurred.
For models which require modifications, there may be an increase in retail price by up to 10%.
The spokesman said the Government was still working on proposals for higher penalties and strengthened inspection programmes as further measures to tackle air pollution from motor vehicles.
In the light of the public's comments and views, the Government is also reviewing the proposed scheme to replace diesel vehicles of four tonnes or less with unleaded petrol ones. For the time being, the existing emission standards will continue to apply to them.
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HK's role outweighs its size in international trade
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Hong Kong punches well above its weight in the various international trade and economic fora because of some particular strengths and a clear sense of purpose, the Director-General of Trade, Mr Tony Miller, said today (Friday).
"Our first great strength lies in our unshakeable faith in a relatively simple economic philosophy. We preach a simple gospel: free trade and the rule of law," Mr Miller said.
"The first is easy enough to explain: our version is no tariffs, no quotas, no exceptions. The second, the rule of law, is shorthand for the essentially democratic rule-based post-war trading system, originally under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and now the World Trade Organisation (WTO)."
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