### Dutiable Commodities Ordinance 《應課稅品條例》

41. Import manifests to be evidence of import
In civil or criminal proceedings connected with this Ordinance, if—
(a) the owner, charterer or agent of any ship or aircraft; 
(b) the master of a ship; 
(c) the person in charge of an aircraft; 
(d) the driver of a vehicle; or 
(e) the cargo handling agent of a train, 
furnishes an import manifest showing cargo, it is presumed in the absence of evidence to the contrary that the cargo was imported into Hong Kong on board the ship, aircraft, vehicle or train.
(Replaced 46 of 1996 s. 20)

42. Certain certificates to be evidence
In all proceedings under this Ordinance and in all proceedings for the recovery of any duty on goods to which this Ordinance applies, copies of or extracts from the records of the Commissioner or the officer authorized to grant any licence or permit, purporting to be certified by him, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated or appearing therein or to be inferred therefrom. 
(Amended 31 of 1969 Schedule; L.N. 294 of 1982)

42A. Proof of contents of electronic record
(1) A document—
(a) purporting to be a copy, produced from one of the Government’s information systems, of the record of any information sent or received by a Government information system in the form of an electronic record; and
(b) purporting to be certified by the Commissioner,
shall be admitted in any proceedings under this Ordinance before a court or magistrate on its production without further proof.
(2) Where a document is produced and admitted as evidence under subsection (1)—
(a) the court or magistrate before which it is produced shall, until the contrary is proved, presume that—
(i) it was certified by the Commissioner;
(ii) the document is a true copy of the record of information so sent; and
(iii) the record was duly made at the time referred to in the document; and
(b) the document is evidence of the contents of the information sent by the sender.
(3) Where a document is produced and admitted as evidence under subsection (1), the court or magistrate may, if it or he thinks fit, on its or his own motion or on the application of any party to the proceedings, summon the person who certified the document and examine him as to its subject-matter.
(Added 19 of 2001 s. 12)

43. Magistrate may call in expert
The magistrate hearing any charge under this Ordinance may, at the request of the accused, employ an analyst or other expert to report on any matter of a technical nature.

### Dutiable Commodities Ordinance 《應課稅品條例》

44. Informers
Save where, in the opinion of the court or magistrate, justice so requires, the name or identity of any informer and the information given by such informer shall not be disclosed in any civil or criminal proceedings and the court or magistrate may make any order and adopt any procedure necessary to prevent any such disclosure.

45. Manner of seizure not to be inquired into by court
On any trial before any magistrate and in any proceedings on appeal in the Court of First Instance relating to the seizure of anything under this Ordinance, the magistrate or the court shall proceed to such trial and to the hearing of such appeal on the merits of the case only, without reference to matters of form and without inquiring into the manner or form of making any seizure except in so far as the manner or form of seizure may be evidence on such merits.
(Amended 25 of 1998 s. 2)

46. Offences and penalties
(1) A person who contravenes a condition, restriction, requirement or direction lawfully imposed, made or given under this Ordinance commits an offence. 
(2) Where a magistrate is of the opinion that a person committed an offence with intent to avoid payment of duty, he may, in addition to the fine or imprisonment provided for the offence, impose a fine not exceeding 10 times the amount of duty payable on the dutiable goods in respect of which the person committed the offence. 
(3) Except as expressly provided in this Ordinance, any person who contravenes a provision of this Ordinance set out in column 1 of Schedule 2 commits an offence and is liable on conviction to the penalty set out opposite that provision in columns 2 and 3 of that Schedule. (Replaced 57 of 2000 s. 5)
(Replaced 46 of 1996 s. 21)

46AA. Disqualification order for hydrocarbon oil offences
(1) This section applies to any offence—
(a) under section 17(1) or (6) in respect of hydrocarbon oil; or
(b) under regulation 5A, 5B or 9 of the Dutiable Commodities (Marking and Colouring of Hydrocarbon Oil) Regulations (Cap. 109 sub. leg. C), (Amended E.R. 4 of 2020)
if the person concerned commits the offence in respect of hydrocarbon oil in the fuel tank of a vehicle used by the person or if the person concerned uses a vehicle in the course of commission of the offence. An offence to which this section applies is referred to in this section as a relevant offence

### Dutiable Commodities Ordinance 《應課稅品條例》

46A. Liability for acts of servants
(1) Where an offence against this Ordinance is committed by a servant of a licensee, the licensee shall, without prejudice to the liability of any other person, also be guilty of that offence but shall not be liable to any term of imprisonment. 
(2) Where a prosecution is brought against a licensee by virtue of this section in respect of an offence committed by a servant, it shall be a defence—
(a) in the case of an offence against section 61, 71, 72 or 73, if the licensee shows that he exercised such control over the servant as would ensure that the servant was not likely to act in contravention of that section; or (Amended 40 of 1974 s. 8; 34 of 1976 s. 6) 
(b) in the case of any other offence, if the licensee shows that he took all practicable steps to prevent the commission of the offence. 
(3) Where a licence is granted to any person wholly or partly for the benefit of a company references to licensee

47. Commencement of prosecution
Any prosecution of any person for any offence against the provisions of this Ordinance shall be commenced within 12 months from the date of such offence or 6 months from the discovery of the offence whichever is the later. 
(Amended 3 of 1970 s. 36)

47A. Power of Commissioner to compound
(1) The Commissioner may, if he has reason to believe that a person has committed an offence, compound an offence listed in column 2 of Schedule 3 in the circumstances, if any, prescribed in column 3. 
(2) In compounding an offence, the person reasonably believed to have committed the offence shall pay the sum of money listed in column 4 of Schedule 3 as a penalty. (Amended 4 of 2003 s. 5)
(3) On acceptance of a payment under subsection (2) in a case where dutiable goods are seized in connection with the offence— (Amended 4 of 2003 s. 5)
(a) the Commissioner shall release the goods and further proceedings on the offence shall not be taken against the person or goods; and (Amended 4 of 2003 s. 5)
(b) the full duty payable on the goods is taken to have been paid.
(4) A magistrate or court may refer to a record of a previous conviction and compounding maintained by the Commissioner under section 47B for the purpose of determining the sentence to be passed on a person convicted of another subsequent offence.
(Added 46 of 1996 s. 22)