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to keep any inconvenience caused to the minimum.

We welcome

the Administration's assurance that cases of detention in situ

have been infrequent in the past, and that it usually needs to

We are

detain the goods for no more than a few days only.

therefore of the view that an additional provision to require

that the written consent of the owner of the premises or

container, or his authorized agent be sought if the period of

detention of the goods exceeds a week should be sufficient

safeguard and satisfactory to all parties concerned.

Section 16B deals with the powers of arrest and entry

for authorised officers, who in practice will be Industry

Officers in the Customs and Excise Department.

We trust that

this provision will streamline the enforcement and administration procedures involved in implementing the Trade

Descriptions Ordinance but we are also concerned with seeing to

the best possible deployment of financial and human resources

in the Department. A value-for-money study of the Department

may be a first step.

Section 30 as drafted contains no obligation on the

part of the Administration to inform the owner of suspected

goods of any forfeiture proceedings if the owner is not

prosecuted. We consider however, that unless the owner of the

goods has indicated to the Administration that he need not be

so informed, the Administration should provide a written