ENG-1977 — Page 177

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PUBLIC ORDER

The Customs and Excise Service, a disciplined force controlled by the Director of Trade, Industry and Customs, is made up of 1,271 officers.

The service collects and protects revenue derived from four dutiable commodities alcoholic liquors, tobacco, methyl alcohol and hydrocarbon oils used as fuel for motor vehicles and aircraft. Controls over the import, export, manufacture, sale and storage of these commodities throughout Hong Kong are imposed under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, which is administered by the service. Some $680 million in revenue was collected on dutiable commodities in 1976-7, compared with $558 million in 1975-6. Seizures and confiscations involved four illicit stills, 454 litres of fermenting materials, 1,128 kilograms of tobacco, 25,005 litres of liquor and 114,284 litres of diesel oil. A total of 627 people were arrested or summonsed, and fines amounting to $351,000 were imposed by the courts.

The service also is responsible for preventing and suppressing illicit trafficking in narcotics, other dangerous drugs and acetylating substances under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance and the Acetylating Sub- stances (Control) Ordinance. More than half of the service is committed to anti- narcotics activities. Apart from intercepting illegal imports by sea and air, action is taken against premises used for the manufacture, storage, sale and smoking of drugs. During the year, anti-narcotics operations led to the seizure of 307 kilograms of dangerous drugs - including 93 kilograms of heroin and 84 kilograms of morphine - and 944 litres of acetic anhydride. A total of 1,260 people were arrested for narcotics offences. Of these, six were charged with manufacturing dangerous drugs and 11 with trafficking. The remainder were charged with simple possession or with smoking dangerous drugs in a divan. The market value of the narcotics and acetic anhydride seized totalled more than $16 million.

The service is the sole agency for enforcing the Copyright Ordinance. During the year, a special unit handled 20 cases connected with copyright infringement. This resulted in the seizure of 257 tape recorders, 1,441 records, 68,537 pirated tapes, and 891 pirated books. A total of 63 people were convicted of various copyright offences and fines amounting to $563,147 were imposed by the courts.

Independent Commission Against Corruption

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), set up by law in February, 1974, investigates suspected corruption offences, prevents corruption and promotes higher social ethics. The commissioner is directly responsible to the Governor and his staff are not subject to the purview of the Public Services Commission: the ICAC engages its own staff and is financed from general revenue.

The commissioner is advised by the Advisory Committee on Corruption - consisting mainly of leading citizens on policy matters affecting the commission's staffing, financial estimates, administration and related matters. The three functional branches of the commission operations, corruption prevention and community relations each have an advisory committee made up of members drawn from the community and based on expertise in specialised fields.

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The establishment of the commission is 1,080 posts, of which 623 are in operations, 104 in corruption prevention, 275 in community relations and 78 in administration. At the end of the year, 903 posts were filled (569 in operations, 77 in corruption prevention, 201 in community relations and 56 in administration).