ENG-2004 — Page 420

358 Public Order

on January 1, 2004 for a period of 12 months and will be formally launched on January 1, 2005.

To avoid duplication of Customs examination so as to facilitate trade and speed up traffic flow at the land boundary, Hong Kong and Mainland Customs agreed to use a green Customs seal to indicate that cargo on board a vehicle has been examined. This measure provides an additional risk assessment indicator to the Customs administration on the other side in dealing with incoming vehicles. Hong Kong Customs began affixing green seals at the three land boundary control points on November 15, 2004.

To cope with increasing cross-boundary vehicular traffic at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point, four additional north-bound kiosks were installed and put into operation on October 12, 2004 for processing private cars. These additional kiosks house both immigration and customs officers and further reduce the time required for clearing north-bound private cars. To bring corresponding improvement to south- bound private cars, four south-bound kiosks will be commissioned by mid-2005.

To facilitate the flow of cross-boundary passenger traffic, the eleventh and twelfth pairs of direct trains between Hung Hom and Guangzhou started operation on April 18, 2004. The operating hours of the Kowloon Railway Unit was revised from 0645-2200 hours to 0645-2345 hours to enhance convenience for cross- boundary passengers.

Since the start of cross-boundary ferry services for transit passengers between Hong Kong International Airport and ports in the Pearl River Delta in September 2003, passenger flow has increased steadily. As at end-2004, the daily average volume of air-to-sea and sea-to-air passengers increased by about 4 and 3.5 times respectively. To meet the increasing demand from passengers and to further expand the transport link between Hong Kong's air services network and the Pearl River Delta region, the ferry service was extended from four to six connecting ports in the Pearl River Delta in December 2004. A new express cargo terminal has been in full operation to handle air-land-sea transhipment mail and cargo since June 2004. Clearance procedures have been streamlined to facilitate express cargo flow.

Anti-smuggling Operations

Smuggling between Hong Kong and the Mainland remained a cause for concern. A duty gradient leading to a price difference between the two places and import controls on certain items imposed in the Mainland were the main factors. underlying the problem. In 2004, the department detected 351 Hong Kong/Mainland smuggling offences, arrested 442 people and seized contraband worth $221 million. Despite a 25 per cent increase in the number of cases this year, the seizure value decreased by 58 per cent from 2003. Syndicates turned to smuggling less contraband each time to evade Customs examination and to minimise the loss when intercepted.

Goods commonly smuggled to the Mainland included computer parts, electrical and electronic appliances, vehicles and vehicle parts, mobile phones and accessories, marked oil, edible oil, frozen poultry products and optical discs. On land, smugglers commonly made false declarations on manifests to avoid Customs inspection.

Page 420Page 421