ENG-2004 — Page 444

382 Public Order

In March, representatives from the Narcotics Division attended the 47th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, held in Vienna, as members of the Chinese delegation. The meeting helped keep Hong Kong abreast of international drug abuse, trafficking and supply trends.

In response to the big increase in traffic and passenger flows between the Mainland and Hong Kong in recent years, the Narcotics Division has developed close ties with the Guangdong Narcotics Control Commission to align the anti-drug policies and strategies of the two places. The Police Force and Customs and Excise Department have also established cooperative mechanisms with their Mainland counterparts. The scope of cooperation includes exchange of information and intelligence, assistance in investigation, mounting of joint operations, and experience sharing seminars.

The Social Welfare Institute of the Macao SARG hosted the third Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Tripartite Conference on Policy to Tackle Drug Abuse and Trafficking in Macao in September. More than 120 anti-drug officials from the three places attended the conference for fruitful exchanges on the latest drug abuse and trafficking trends and strategies to tackle the problem.

As an international financial centre, it is important for Hong Kong to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) and countering terrorist financing (CFT) regime. Hong Kong is committed to cooperating closely with international organisations and individual governments, both on a multilateral and bilateral basis, to maintain the effectiveness of the global campaign. Hong Kong is a member of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) as well as a founding member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG). In 2004, Hong Kong continued to step up its efforts and participate proactively in international action against money laundering and terrorist financing.

On regional cooperation, besides taking part in its plenary meetings, Hong Kong has played an active role in the APG's typologies exercise, including serving as the speakers and participating in its annual typologies workshop in Brunei in October. Hong Kong took part in the APG mutual evaluation of Niue in November and continued to serve as a member of its Steering Group, an advisory body which sets the direction and priority of the work of the APG. Hong Kong also participated in the International Monetary Fund/World Bank-led assessments of the Cook Islands in February.

At the international level, Hong Kong has joined the newly formed FATF Typologies Project Team on Alternative Remittance Systems (ARS) and participated in the FATF's annual typologies workshop held in Moscow in December. The project team will work with relevant bodies and organisations to develop an overview of the current state of knowledge on ARS and their potential misuse for money laundering and terrorist financing. It will also identify updated typologies on misuse of ARS for criminal purposes and identify areas for possible refinement of FATF standards for dealing with ARS.