DCS chairs inter-departmental meeting to guard against re-emergence of problems arising from parallel trading activities (5.1.2023)
5.1.2023

The Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, chaired an inter-departmental meeting today (January 5) to plan ahead and guard against the re-emergence of problems arising from parallel trading activities in anticipation of the resumption of normal travel, so as to ensure social order and environment hygiene. The Government has all along been concerned about the nuisance caused by parallel trading activities to the daily lives of local residents and its impact on environmental hygiene. Law enforcement departments attach great importance to possible parallel trading activities following the resumption of normal travel, and will take stringent actions against those who breach the regulations, be they Hong Kong residents or visitors. Recently, there are episodes of people scrambling for drugs such as medicine for pain relief and fever. According to the Drug Formulary, there are over 750 registered drugs for pain relief and fever with paracetamol for members of the public to purchase. The paracetamol that the Hospital Authority has reserved is currently adequate to meet the demand of local patients who seek medical consultations in public hospitals. To enable public purchase of paracetamol, the Department of Health (DH) has uploaded a list of registered drugs ( www.drugoffice.gov.hk/eps/do/en/doc/List_of_registered_pharmaceutical_products_containing_paracetamol.pdf ) for members of the public to check online whether their desired paracetamol is under registration. Moreover, the DH will send staff to conduct regular inspections to verify that registered pharmacies are in compliance with regulatory requirements and licence conditions. The Government will continue to closely monitor the supply of the relevant medicines, and does not rule out imposing restrictions on the purchase and sale of medicines if necessary, to further ensure that people in need can purchase the relevant medicines. It is hereby urged that all licensed drug dealers not to stockpile the relevant medicines. With regard to tackling parallel trading activities and maintaining social order and environment hygiene, the departments concerned will closely monitor black spots for parallel trading (especially in the North District, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun), plan ahead and take actions based on actual circumstances as appropriate. The departments will sustain their efforts in law enforcement as follows: ● The Customs and Excise Department will step up enforcement to inspect whether outbound travellers export controlled drugs at boundary control points; ● The Customs and Excise Department and the Shenzhen authorities will maintain close contact and step up efforts in investigation and enforcement against parallel trading activities, and pass on the information to the Immigration Department (ImmD) and the Police for action; ● The ImmD will establish a "watch list of suspected parallel traders" for identifying suspected parallel traders and subject them to examination. If the purpose of visiting Hong Kong is in doubt, the ImmD will refuse the entry of such visitors and repatriate them immediately; ● The ImmD and the Police will conduct joint law enforcement operations to arrest any visitors suspected of contravening conditions of stay by involving in parallel trading activities; and ● The Police and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will closely monitor black spots for parallel trading and step up patrols and enforcement against obstruction in public places by vendors and parallel traders. The Government reminded the public that currently, controlled drugs imported or exported by anyone, except in a reasonable quantity for personal use, must be covered by a licence issued by the DH. Otherwise the person may be prosecuted and the relevant items may also be seized. Officials attending today's meeting included the Deputy Financial Secretary, Mr Michael Wong; the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau; the Director of Immigration, Mr Au Ka-wang; the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Ms Louise Ho; the Under Secretary for Security, Mr Michael Cheuk; the Under Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Liu Chun-san; the Under Secretary for Health, Dr Libby Lee; the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Ms Irene Young; the Director of Information Services, Mr Fletch Chan, and representatives from the DH, the Department of Justice, the Home Affairs Department and the Hong Kong Police Force. Ends/Thursday, January 5, 2023 Issued at HKT 20:45 NNNN