The Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendments) Ordinance 2021 (the Ordinance) has been published in the Gazette and comes into effect today (May 31).
 
     On March 11, 2021, the National People's Congress (NPC) passed the Decision of the NPC on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the Decision) and authorised the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) to amend Annex I to the Basic Law on Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Annex II to the Basic Law on Method for the Formation of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Its Voting Procedures. The NPCSC on March 30 adopted the amended Annex I and Annex II to the Basic Law. Pursuant to Article 7 of the Decision, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government shall, according to the Decision and the amended Annexes I and II to the Basic Law, amend the relevant local legislation and organise and regulate the relevant electoral activities in accordance with the law. The HKSAR Government has fulfilled its constitutional responsibility to implement the improved electoral system by way of local legislation.
 
     A Government spokesman said, "The Ordinance serves to implement the Decision adopted by the NPC and the Annexes I and II to the Basic Law amended by the NPCSC, as well as a host of improvement measures for public elections. Improving the electoral system can put in place institutional safeguards to ensure a full application of 'patriots administering Hong Kong', thereby getting Hong Kong back on the right track, ensuring the steadfast and successful implementation of 'one country, two systems' as well as the long-term prosperity and stability of the city."

     The spokesman also said, "The HKSAR Government will properly organise and conduct the upcoming Election Committee Subsector Elections, the Legislative Council General Election and the Chief Executive Election in accordance with the relevant amended electoral legislation. As in the past, the Government will work closely with the Electoral Affairs Commission and the Registration and Electoral Office to ensure that elections are conducted in a fair, just and open manner."

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (May 31) launched a number of new services to expand the functions of the Food Trader Portal (FTP), allowing traders to apply for import permission for eggs; report the arrival of food consignments of eggs, meat, poultry and game as well as consignments of other food types imported by air; and handle matters concerning the release of the consignments online.

     A CFS spokesperson said, "The CFS has been rolling out different online services at the FTP in phases since December 2019. Together with the new services launched today, the service scope of the FTP at present covers trader registration and renewal, applications for all import licenses and import permissions issued by the CFS, and handling of the arrival reporting and release of consignments of eggs, meat, poultry, game, milk and frozen confections and consignments imported by air containing other food types."

     In tandem with the roll-out of the new online services, the CFS has implemented a series of enhancement measures, including rearranging the format of the import permission and its application form to clearly set out the name of the issuing entity of the country/place of origin and types of the eggs to be imported, along with detailed import conditions, including the documents required and contact information of the relevant CFS offices.

     The spokesperson said, "If reporting of consignment arrival is required, importers may submit the report online through the FTP. After receiving the report, the FTP will, according to the specific operational flow based on food type and mode of transport, issue instructions or notices to the importers for completion of the consignment release procedures. As most of the food consignment information has been provided through the FTP in advance, the time spent on consignment release at the border food control offices of the CFS can be shortened."

     The spokesperson added, "Importers can continue to submit various applications and report arrival of consignments on paper having regard to their operational needs. The CFS has provided a new unified paper form for reporting consignment arrival to the food control offices at sea, land and air borders. For importers who wish to enjoy various kinds of online services at the FTP, they should actively consider opening their user accounts as soon as practicable."

     To enable food traders to know more about the operation of the FTP and the above new measures, the CFS held an online briefing on May 3, followed by a number of training workshops to provide hands-on experience in operating the FTP for food traders. Presentation notes, training manuals and frequently asked questions on the new measures were also produced and posted on the website for traders' reference.

     For more details, please visit the FTP at www.ftp.cfs.gov.hk.

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (May 31) that due to big waves, the red flag has been hoisted at Hung Shing Yeh Beach in Islands District. Beach-goers are advised not to swim at the beach.

     â€‹The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) today (May 31) launched the Pilot Scheme on Subvention for New Sports to support the development of new sports in Hong Kong. The pilot scheme aims to provide more opportunities and choices for members of the public, and to encourage them to do more physical exercise through taking part in different sports.
      
     The pilot scheme has been introduced based on the recommendations of the Comprehensive Review of Sports Subvention Scheme (SSS). The SSS administrated by the LCSD provides subvention to national sports associations and sports organisations. The comprehensive review was conducted in 2019-20 by the LCSD, and a wide range of recommendations and enhancement measures have been made to enhance the further development of sports in Hong Kong.
      
     The report of the comprehensive review suggested that government funding should be provided for new sports, so that the public could have more opportunities and choices to take part in different sports activities. With this inspiration, the Government introduced the Pilot Scheme on Subvention for New Sports and a new funding mechanism, apart from the existing SSS, was devised to promote and support the development of new sports in Hong Kong.
      
     The pilot scheme is inviting applications for subvention in 2021-22 from now until July 31. Each successful application will be offered a maximum of $100,000 or 85 per cent of the total eligible expenditure of an individual activity, whichever is lower. For details, please visit the LCSD webpage at www.lcsd.gov.hk/sns.
      
     An applicant for the pilot scheme must be a registered non-profit-making organisation that has served as the sole governing body of the sport in Hong Kong for the past two years before the date of submission of the application. It must also be the only organisation in the territory recognised by and affiliated with the Asian federation/regional federation/international federation that is the sole federation representing the respective sport, and have successful experience in organising sports development programmes in the past two years.
      
     An Advisory Committee of the Pilot Scheme on Subvention for New Sports has been set up to steer the implementation, endorse the mode of subvention and provide advice on publicity and promotion of the pilot scheme. The advisory committee mainly comprises members of the Sports Commission, the Community Sports Committee and the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China who are enthusiastic in sports and have profound experience. The LCSD will oversee implementation of the scheme.

     The 2021 edition of "Statistical Digest of the Services Sector" is published by the Census and Statistics Department today (May 31). The publication provides up-to-date annual statistics (for year 2010 and each of the years from 2016 to 2020) and quarterly statistics (from the third quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020) on 14 major service industries/domains of Hong Kong for the more important statistical series.
 
     The above publication is now available for download at the website of the Census and Statistics Department (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1080007&scode=520). Enquiries can be directed to the Logistics and Producer Prices Statistics Section of the Department (Tel: 3903 7257 or email: services@censtatd.gov.hk).