The annual marine pollution joint response exercises, code-named Oilex 2021 and Maritime Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) 2021, were conducted by various government departments this morning (October 27) in the waters west of L… read more
The 16th Eco Expo Asia opened today (October 27) in a hybrid format, with a physical exhibition being held alongside an online platform for the first time. Featuring the Eco Asia Conference and the Green and Sustainable Finance for Eco Business session, the Expo allows political and business leaders, scholars and professionals to share strategies and technology that can help achieve green recovery and carbon neutrality. The physical exhibition is being held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from today to October 30.
Speaking at the Expo’s opening ceremony, the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, said, “The theme of Eco Expo Asia this year is ‘Promoting Green Recovery for Carbon Neutrality’. It is indeed a timely response to the most imminent challenges that we are facing. While the world is tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government is endeavouring to boost the economy and create more employment to promote green recovery. Meanwhile, we must also gear up to act to limit global warming and achieve carbon neutrality.”
Striving towards the HKSAR’s target of achieving carbon neutrality before 2050 and reducing Hong Kong’s carbon emissions by 50 per cent before 2035 as compared to the 2005 level, the Environment Bureau announced earlier this month Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050. It outlines the four major decarbonisation strategies and measures, namely net-zero electricity generation, energy saving and green buildings, green transport, and waste reduction, with a view to tackling carbon emissions from electricity generation, transport and waste, and leading Hong Kong towards carbon neutrality. In the next 15 to 20 years, the Government will be investing a further $240 billion to support a series of actions to combat climate change.
Mr Wong added, “Measures to decarbonise will not only bring about sustainable improvement to the environment, but also drive the development of a green economy, create ample job opportunities, and promote green recovery. Eco Expo Asia provides a quality platform for the trades to grasp the new momentum for growth by showcasing their latest green and decarbonisation technologies and products.”
The Expo’s feature event, the Eco Asia Conference, is being held today and tomorrow (October 28). The Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Mr Guo Jing; the Director-General of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangdong Province, Mr Lu Xiulu; the Director of the Macao Environmental Protection Bureau, Mr Tam Vai-man; and the Director of the Ecology Environment Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality, Mr Li Shuisheng, have been invited to speak with industry leaders on the policies and technology to achieve green recovery for carbon neutrality. In addition, a new session, Green and Sustainable Finance for Eco Business, will be held tomorrow with the Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Joseph Chan; the Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission, Mr Ashley Alder; and representatives from the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and the Hong Kong Green Finance Association sharing their insights on green and sustainable finance.
Apart from Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050, the Government also announced the Waste Blueprint for Hong Kong 2035, the Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles and the Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong 2035 this year, laying down a solid foundation for Hong Kong’s decarbonisation and environmental protection work in the future.
The Environment Bureau is participating in the physical exhibition of Eco Expo Asia this year and is highlighting the theme by displaying the Carbon Neutral@HK logo made of reclaimed local wood from the yard waste recycling centre Y·PARK. The exhibition comprises four zones, namely “Climate Action Zone”, “Clean Air Zone”, “Electric Vehicles Zone” and “Waste Blueprint Zone”, to introduce details of the four blueprints.
“Climate Action Zone” introduces Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050, which sets out the decarbonisation strategies and measures of Hong Kong under the vision of “Zero-carbon Emissions · Liveable City · Sustainable Development”. An interactive device is being displayed to demonstrate the achievements and targets of climate action in Hong Kong. “Clean Air Zone” highlights the Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong 2035, which draws up measures to improve air quality, with a robot ambassador briefing visitors in the zone. “Electric Vehicles Zone” showcases the Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles. Visitors may take part in a virtual reality game to witness a city with only electric vehicles. “Waste Blueprint Zone” spotlights the major areas of action under the Waste Blueprint for Hong Kong 2035 on waste reduction and separation, education and publicity, and more. Visitors may also try out a reverse vending machine for collection of plastic beverage containers in the zone.
In addition, eight departments, namely the Buildings Department, the Drainage Services Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Highways Department, the Hong Kong Observatory, the Housing Department, the Planning Department and the Water Supplies Department, are also participating in the exhibition to introduce their initiatives in achieving carbon neutrality for Hong Kong.
Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and co-organised by the Environment Bureau, Eco Expo Asia will open its doors to the public for free on the last day of the event (October 30) to encourage citizens to participate in environmental protection and promote green living, while its online exhibition will continue to run until November 6. read more
In the preceding week till 11.59pm on October 24, the Department of Health (DH) received 33 reports (Note 1) of adverse events following COVID-19 immunisation. No death case was reported by the Hospital Authority (HA) invo… read more
Following is a question by the Hon Elizabeth Quat and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, in the Legislative Council today (October 27):
Question:
As pointed out by a report published by a conservation group in May this year, Hong Kong is a major consumer and global trading hub for critically endangered and endangered species of eels, and that Hong Kong is also a major trafficking hub for regulated eels from Europe, North America and Asia. The report also reveals that almost 90 per cent of the eel samples collected in mid-2020 from restaurants across Hong Kong belonged to critically endangered or endangered species of eels. Besides, according to a local university’s study, 45 per cent of the eel samples collected in November 2017 and February 2018 from two major supermarket chains belonged to critically endangered species of European eels listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and the food labels affixed were probably incorrect. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the quantity of eels of critically endangered and endangered species imported to Hong Kong which were seized by the authorities in each of the past 10 years, with a breakdown by (i) scientific name for the species to which the eels belonged and (ii) country of origin of the eels (set out in a table);
(2) of the quantity of eels of critically endangered and endangered species to be exported/re-exported from Hong Kong which were seized by the authorities in each of the past 10 years, with a breakdown by (i) scientific name for the species to which the eels belonged and (ii) export/re-export destination country of the eels (set out in a table); and
(3) in order to combat the trafficking of regulated eels and prevent people from inadvertently buying endangered eel products, whether the Government will amend the Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) Regulations (Cap. 132W) to require that the food labels of prepackaged eel products must provide information on (i) the scientific name for the species to which the eels concerned belonged and (ii) their production method (i.e. wild-caught or farmed); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government is committed to protecting endangered species and is implementing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Hong Kong through the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586) (the Ordinance) to strictly regulate the trade in endangered species. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has been working closely with the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) in combatting illegal trade in endangered species at import and export control points.
There are different species of eels (Anguilla spp.), amongst which only the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is listed in the CITES Appendix II and hence regulated by the Ordinance. Import of live European eels of wild origin requires a licence to import issued by the AFCD and the production of an export permit issued by the relevant authority of the exporting place. For non-living European eels, though a licence to import issued by the AFCD is not required, the production of an export permit issued by the relevant authority of the exporting place is still required. Other eel species, such as the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica), are not listed in the CITES Appendices and hence their import and export are not regulated by the Ordinance.
The AFCD has also collected samples of processed eel products in local retail markets for examination. If any scheduled European eels are identified in the samples, investigation and follow-up actions will be carried out. Meanwhile, the AFCD has strengthened publicity and education to the local trade on relevant import and export requirements. The AFCD and the C&ED will also join hands to strengthen enforcement to combat illegal trade in endangered species (including European eels).
(1) Since the European eel is the only eel species scheduled under the Ordinance which requires regulated trade, the AFCD does not have statistics on the seizure of other non-scheduled eel species. The seizure records of illegal import of European eels in the past 10 years are tabulated below:
| Year | Exporting place | Quantity of seizure (kg) |
| 2011 | (No seizure) | (Not applicable) |
| 2012 | (No seizure) | (Not applicable) |
| 2013 | (No seizure) | (Not applicable) |
| 2014 | Morocco and the Netherlands | Live eel fry (including water) : 230 Processed eel (net weight): 5 |
| 2015 | (No seizure) | (Not applicable) |
| 2016 | Morocco and Spain | Live eel fry (including water) : 121.7 |
| 2017 | Morocco, Spain and Portugal | Live eel fry (including water) : 116.42 |
| 2018 | Portugal | Live eel fry (including water) : 206.46 |
| 2019 | United States | Frozen eel (net weight)：25 260 (Note) |
| 2020 | (No seizure) | (Not applicable) |
​Hong Kong Customs seized a total of about 32 000 items of suspected counterfeit and smuggled goods with an estimated market value of about $6.3 million at the Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal on October 18 and 25.
Through risk assessment, Customs officers on the above-mentioned two days inspected three 40-foot containers arriving in Hong Kong from Nansha, Guangdong. Upon inspection, Customs officers seized the batch of suspected counterfeit and smuggled goods in the containers, including sports shoes and belts.
Initial investigation revealed that the batch of goods would have been re-exported to South American countries.
Investigation is ongoing.
Customs will continue to strengthen co-operation with the Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies and take stringent enforcement action against cross-boundary counterfeit goods activities.
Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, any person who imports or exports any goods to which a forged trade mark is applied commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person who imports or exports unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
Members of the public may report any suspected counterfeiting and smuggling activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
