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At Committee Stage I will move a few amendments to the Bill which have been agreed by the Bills Committee. I shall explain in detail the reasons for the amendments at that point.
Thank you, Mr President.
End
Freight Containers (Safety) Bill: committee stage
Following is the speech by the acting Secretary for Economic Services, Mr Kwan Wing-wah, in moving the proposed Committee Stage amendments on the Freight Containers (Safety) Bill in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Mr Chairman,
I move that clauses 17 and 19, and Schedule 1 be amended as set out in the paper circulated to Members.
The amendment to clause 17(2) seeks to clarify the application of this clause. The amendment puts beyond doubt that a bailee or lessee will not be required to pay to the Director of Marine the costs of detaining a container unless there is an agreement made providing for exercise of the owner's responsibility by the bailee or lessee of this container.
As regards the proposed new clause 19(5), the main purpose is to protect the interest of terminal operators by specifying that the inside of a sealed container can only be inspected by the Director of Marine or any appointed inspectors when a warrant has been issued by the Magistrate. That said, the Director of Marine and the appointed inspectors can only inspect the inside of a sealed container when there are strong justifications, for instance, when there is sufficient evidence for suspecting that a container is unsafe for use due to distortion of the internal structures of the container.
The other proposed amendments to Schedule 1 seeks to remove any possible discrepancies between our local legislation and the International Convention for Safe Containers 1972.
Mr Chairman, I beg to move.
End