TNAG-1362-FCO40-1808-Hong-Kong-Hansard-reports-and-minutes-of-the-meetings-of-the-1985 — Page 103

UMELCO RESTRICTED

DRAFT SPEECH BY HON PETER C WONG, OBE, JP LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 15.5.85

Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Bill 1985

Sir,

The pros and cons of the duties on cosmetics and non-alcoholic beverages have already been debated at length in this Council. I shall confine my remarks to the technical aspects of the Bill.

Anyone familiar with tax legislation will appreciate that it is by no means easy to draft a bill which is precise enough to cover the tax intended and yet simple enough for the average person to understand and for the tax authorities to apply. In my view, the Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Bill 1985 is a good piece of legal drafting, particularly the definitions of cosmetics and non-alcoholic beverages, and to a large extent meets the general criteria described above.

I am

There are, however, three specific areas in which I would like to see further improvement or clarification. pleased to report, Sir, that the Administration has agreed to 3 amendments, which I will move at the Committee Stage.

First, one of the assumptions under the new Section (2A) in Clause 5(b) determining the normal price of any dutiable goods manufactured in Hong Kong states that the seller will bear 'freight, insurance, commission and all other costs, charges and expenses incidental to the sale and the delivery of the goods to the buyer'. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines 'freight' as the hire of ship or aircraft for transporting goods or the transport of goods in containers. Since this section is intended to apply only to goods manufactured and used locally, 'freight' is perhaps not the most appropriate word. Local made goods for local consumption are not normally

UMELCO RESTRICTED