ENG-2009 — Page 152

104 Commerce and Industry

Hong Kong continues to maintain highly effective origin control measures to prevent abuse and to safeguard the interest of Hong Kong's textiles trade.

In 2009, the Customs and Excise Department carried out 17 036 factory and consignment inspections and concluded 334 investigations to combat illegal transhipment of textiles. The department also conducted 576 'blitz' check operations on textile consignments at various import and export control points. It successfully prosecuted 384 companies and individual offenders, resulting in the imposition of fines amounting to $5.9 million.

Trade in Strategic Commodities

The Trade and Industry Department maintains a comprehensive import and export control licensing system to monitor the movement of strategic commodities through Hong Kong. The system ensures that while Hong Kong has access to advanced products and technologies to sustain its economic development, it is not used as a conduit for illicit diversion of strategic commodities. The department also administers a permit system to monitor activities involving sensitive chemicals as required by the Chemical Weapons Convention. Hong Kong maintains close co-operation with its trading partners to keep abreast of developments in the international arena on strategic trade control matters, and to make sure that its control arrangement is complementary to those of its trading partners.

In 2009, the Customs and Excise Department investigated 233 cases of unlicensed import and export of strategic commodities and prosecuted 52 offenders, resulting in fines amounting to $2.2 million. Goods valued at $151,000 were confiscated.

Customs Co-operation

The Customs and Excise Department plays an active role in the work of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and APEC's Sub-committee on Customs Procedures. It maintains close liaison with the WCO Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Asia and the Pacific (RILO A/P) in Beijing. The department has seconded an officer to the Liaison Office to enhance the intelligence network in the Asia- Pacific Region.

Hong Kong is taking steps to implement the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (FOS), which is a set of principles and standards adopted by the WCO for enhancing supply chain security and facilitating international trade. The Customs and Excise Department will refer to the best practices and experiences of the Authorised Economic Operator Schemes in other administrations when formulating its implementation plan.

The department maintains a good co-operative network with other customs administrations and law enforcement agencies. Regular bilateral meetings are held with the Mainland and other customs authorities for exchanging intelligence and experiences on enforcement. The department has also concluded bilateral co-operative arrangements with a number of customs administrations.