The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) announced today (June 19) that, in light of the latest situation of the pandemic, the HA will reopen all the outdoor sports/recreational facilities within its public housing estates from next Monday (June 22) onwards.
 
     The HA has already started to reopen some of its outdoor sports/recreational facilities since May 6. It will further reopen its outdoor basketball courts, football pitches and chess tables tomorrow (June 20). Following the reopening of all children playgrounds next Monday, all the outdoor sports/recreational facilities under the HA will become accessible by tenants of the HA.  
 
     The HA will closely monitor the situation and review the above arrangements where appropriate.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) today (June 19) launched a pilot programme for the "Book GOPC" mobile application function, providing an additional means for members of the public to book an appointment in a general out-patient clinic (GOPC), on top of the existing GOPC Telephone Appointment Service. The trial of the function commenced today in the one-stop mobile application "HA Go".

     The spokesperson for the HA said, "The public will see the newly added 'Book GOPC' icon after updating 'HA Go' today. They can then book, enquire about or cancel a consultation appointment through this function. The pilot programme covers GOPCs in Central and Western District and Southern District (except for Stanley General Out-patient Clinic) (see table below). Clinic staff will remind and assist patients to activate 'HA Go' for the trial of the new function, and monitor whether the application is actually operating steadily and smoothly."

     The HA will extend the pilot programme of "Book GOPC" to other districts starting in late July, if the trial is smooth and well received by patients. It is expected that the function will cover all GOPCs by the end of September.

     "The design of 'Book GOPC' emphasises not only a simple booking flow, but also its safety to protect patient data privacy. Members of the public only need to download the 'HA Go' mobile application, complete the registration and then activate the account at the designated counter during an upcoming appointment in order to use the function," the spokesperson added.

     The HA will distribute leaflets (see Annex) to the public on "Book GOPC" at the participating clinics. Meanwhile, the GOPC Telephone Appointment System continues to provide its booking service as usual. For details of the booking means for GOPC services and other related information, please visit the GOPC website (www.ha.org.hk/gopc).

     The following general out-patient clinics are covered by the pilot programme:
 

     The Labour Department (LD) today (June 19) announced that the Subsidy Scheme for Employment Agencies (EAs) (the Scheme) introduced under the Anti-epidemic Fund will be open for application from June 22 to July 21.
      
     Under the Scheme, a one-off lump sum subsidy will be granted to EAs with a valid licence issued by the LD. A subsidy of $50,000 will be granted for each main licence of EAs which provide a foreign domestic helper (FDH) placement service. For EAs which do not provide a FDH placement service, a subsidy of $30,000 will be granted for each main licence. An additional subsidy of $10,000 will be granted for each duplicate licence for a branch office of both kinds of EAs.
      
     An EA eligible for applying for a subsidy under the Scheme must hold a valid licence issued by the LD under section 52 of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) as at May 31, 2020, or must have submitted an application for licence renewal to the LD in accordance with Regulation 2 of the Employment Agency Regulations (Cap. 57A) as at May 31, 2020. If the validity period of the current licence of the EA is less than two months as at the date of submission of an application for subsidy, the EA should first submit an application for licence renewal to the LD before submitting an application for subsidy.
      
     An LD spokesman said, "An invitation letter will be sent to each licensed EA by post or email to invite them to submit an application on June 22. Application forms will be available on the same day at the office of the Employment Agencies Administration (EAA) of the LD, or available for downloading at the LD's website (www.labour.gov.hk) and the EA Portal (www.eaa.labour.gov.hk). EAs applying for a subsidy of $50,000 will be required to declare that they had provided an FDH placement service on or before May 31, 2020, and may be required to submit documentary proof as necessary." 
      
     The application must be submitted by the licensee of the EA. If the EA is a partnership, the application should be submitted by the designated partner with an authorisation letter signed by all partners. If the EA is a limited company, the application should be submitted by the authorised company director with a company seal affixed on the application form.
      
     The completed application form and required documents must be submitted to and received by the office of the EAA of the LD (Address: Unit 906, 9/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, 1 Mong Kok Road, Kowloon) by post (the postmark date will be regarded as the date of receipt of the application) or in person on or before July 21. Application by email and facsimile will not be accepted. Late applications, application forms with incomplete information or late submissions of required documents will not be considered.
      
     For enquiries about the Scheme, please contact the EAA of the LD at 2115 3665.

     The Trade Marks (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 (the Amendment Ordinance) was gazetted today (June 19), providing a basis in Hong Kong Law for the application of the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol) in Hong Kong.
  
     At present, the Madrid Protocol has 106 contracting parties including China and many other major trading partners of Hong Kong. It allows trade mark owners to apply for registration of trade marks in the register of the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization, and to seek extension of protection of trade marks in multiple jurisdictions by a one-stop application process through such registration, thus greatly simplifying the registration process for trade mark owners. The Madrid Protocol has yet to be applied to Hong Kong.

     "The implementation of the Madrid Protocol in Hong Kong is one of the key measures to enhance the local intellectual property regime. It will not only enable businesses to save time and costs in seeking trade mark protection in multiple jurisdictions and managing their trade mark registrations, but can also reinforce our position as an ideal place of conducting commercial activities and intellectual property trading," a spokesman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said.

     The Amendment Ordinance also confers powers on the Customs and Excise Department to enforce the criminal provisions under the Trade Marks Ordinance (Cap. 559), and makes technical amendments to some existing provisions of the Trade Marks Ordinance for enhancing Hong Kong's trade mark application and registration system.

     Following the enactment of the Amendment Ordinance, the Government will press ahead with relevant preparatory work for the implementation of the Madrid Protocol, including preparing subsidiary legislation to provide for the relevant procedural details, setting up a dedicated information technology system and obtaining the agreement of the Central People's Government to seek application of the Madrid Protocol to Hong Kong. Subject to the progress of this preparatory work, the Government aims to implement the Madrid Protocol in Hong Kong as soon as possible.

     The Amendment Ordinance came into operation today, except Section 5 and Part 4 of the Amendment Ordinance concerning trade mark rights acquired in Hong Kong under the Madrid Protocol, which shall come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development by notice published in the Gazette after completing the relevant preparatory work.

     The Government published in the Gazette today (June 19) the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Ship Leasing Tax Concessions) Ordinance 2020 to implement the 2019 Policy Address initiative of providing tax concessions to qualifying ship lessors and qualifying ship leasing managers. The Ordinance takes retrospective effect from April 1, 2020.
 
     A Government spokesman said, "Ship leasing is a high value-added maritime service with strong growth potential. The newly introduced tax incentive is expected to attract more companies to Hong Kong to develop ship leasing business. This will enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness as a ship leasing centre in the Asia-Pacific region, and help attract related maritime business establishments to set up a presence in Hong Kong, thereby bolstering Hong Kong's maritime cluster and reinforcing our position as an international maritime and financial centre."
 
     The Ordinance provides tax exemption for qualifying profits derived from ship leasing activities in relation to operating leases and funding leases carried out by ship lessors. At the same time, to facilitate the operation of ship lessors, qualifying profits derived from ship leasing management activities (e.g. setting up or managing a special purpose vehicle for owning a leased ship, arranging for the procurement or leasing of ships, and managing leases) carried out by ship leasing managers for ship lessors can generally enjoy half-tax concession (i.e. a tax rate of 8.25 per cent). The Ordinance has built in anti-abuse provisions to safeguard the integrity of the tax system and comply with the latest international tax rules.