XN000022-1996-04-03 — Page 62

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In several court cases regarding falsely labelled goods found on incoming vehicles from China at the border points, the claims that the contraband was "goods in transit" were accepted by courts as defences. When seized at the border control point, the goods were still on board the vehicles and in such circumstances were considered to fall within the definition of "goods in transit". This interpretation makes it difficult for Customs officers to bring prosecutions against those who smuggle from China by vehicle.

To rectify the situation, we propose to delete the reference to "vehicle" from the definition of "goods in transit" in the Trade Descriptions Ordinance.

Mr President, I move that the debate on this motion be now adjourned.

End

Import and Export (Amendment) Bill

Following is a speech by the Secretary for Trade and Industry, Miss Denise Yue, in moving the seconding reading of the Import and Export (Amendment) Bill 1996 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President,

time.

I move that the Import and Export (Amendment) Bill 1996 be read a second

This Bill seeks to remove a potential loophole in the Import and Export Ordinance by deleting the reference to "vehicle" in the definition of "article in transit" in Section 2(b) of the Ordinance.

The reason for the proposed amendment is identical to that which I have already explained earlier to this Council in moving the second reading of the Trade Descriptions (Amendment) Bill 1996. It is practically impossible for articles carried on a vehicle from China to qualify as being in transit through Hong Kong. Articles brought into Hong Kong this way can realistically only be destined for Hong Kong or re-exported by vessel or aircraft. They should therefore not qualify as articles in transit and be exempted from the controls under the Ordinance. The potential for abuse under the existing definition is real, as evidenced by the experience of the cases which I quoted for the Trade Descriptions Ordinance.

End

Mr President, I move that the debate on this motion be now adjourned.