Tag Archives: China

     Hong Kong Customs mounted a joint-operation with the Department of Health (DH) yesterday (October 12) to combat unfair trade practices and unregistered medicines at a medicine shop.
      
     Customs officers conducted a test-buy operation at a medicine shop in Causeway Bay during the operation and arrested a 41-year-old salesman suspected to have applied a false trade description on a brand of medicine by stating it was a particular brand of medicine, in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO) (Cap 362).
      
     The DH officers then conducted a search at the premises and seized one type of suspected unregistered proprietary Chinese medicines (pCm) and nine types of suspected unregistered pharmaceutical products for further investigation. A 52-year-old owner of the medicine shop was arrested for suspected illegal possession of unregistered pCm and unregistered pharmaceutical products, in contravention of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (CMO) (Cap 549) and the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (PPO) (Cap 138).
      
     Investigation is ongoing and the arrested persons have been released on bail pending further investigation.
      
     Under the TDO, any person who in the course of any trade or business applies a false trade description to any goods or services commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
      
     According to the CMO, no person shall sell, import or possess any pCm unless the pCm is registered. The maximum penalty involved is a fine of $100,000 and two years’ imprisonment for each offence.
      
     According to the PPO, all pharmaceutical products must be registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Hong Kong before they can be legally sold in the market. Illegal sale or possession of unregistered pharmaceutical products are criminal offences. The maximum penalty for each offence is a fine of $100,000 and two years’ imprisonment.
      
     Customs reminds traders to comply with the requirements of the TDO and consumers to procure products at reputable shops.
      
     Members of the public may report any suspected violations of the TDO to the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
      
     “The public should not buy or use products of doubtful composition or from unknown sources. All registered pCms should carry a Hong Kong registration number on the product label in the format of ‘HKC-XXXXX’ or ‘HKP-XXXXX’. All registered pharmaceutical products should carry a Hong Kong registration number on the package in the format of ‘HK-XXXXX’. Safety, quality and efficacy of unregistered pCms or pharmaceutical products are not guaranteed,” a DH spokesman said. read more

     Following is the transcript of the opening remarks by the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, at the Symposium on Innovation & Technology today (October 13):     &nbsp… read more

     The Department of Health (DH) held the 20th Anniversary Ceremony of the Elderly Health Service (EHS) cum Seminar on Promoting Healthy Ageing today (October 13), providing a networking platform for various stakeholders to exchan… read more

     The Hong Kong Police Force today (October 13) organised the Police Recruitment Day (Autumn) at Police Headquarters, recruiting Probationary Inspectors, Recruit Police Constables and Police Constables (Auxiliary).  &nbsp… read more

     Following is the transcript of remarks at a media session by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, after attending a radio programme this morning (October 13):

Reporter: How do you respond to criticism from these operators that it is simply not fair to them? And also another question: how would you respond to criticism saying that under this toll adjustment proposal, not all stakeholders have been publicly consulted? On another topic, there have been reports saying that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will be opened on the 27th or 28th of this month. Can you verify that? 

Secretary for Transport and Housing: In respect of the question on whether the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is going to open by the end of this month, I must say that this is a news to me (and) personally I don’t have any idea when the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is going to be opened because the Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao governments are working together and are going to notify the Central People’s Government. We are waiting for the notification on when and how the bridge is going to open.

     As regards the comment on whether other public transport operators should be entitled to toll concession, I have just mentioned to the other media that this would be considered together with the congestion charges which is going to be studied by the Government in the months to come.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) read more