Hong Kong Customs seized about 63 000 items of suspected counterfeit and smuggled goods with an estimated market value of about $5.7 million at the Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal on December 18.

     Through risk assessment, Customs officers on that day inspected a 40-foot container arriving in Hong Kong from Nansha, Guangdong. Upon inspection, Customs officers seized the batch of suspected counterfeit and smuggled goods in the container, including footwear, clothing and mobile phones and accessories.

     Initial investigations revealed that the batch of goods would have been re-exported to overseas 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 found guilty of importing or exporting 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).

  

     According to the statistics on Hong Kong innovation activities released today (December 23) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) of Hong Kong in 2019 amounted to $26,333 million, representing an increase of 8% when compared to the corresponding figure of 2018 ($24,478 million). The GERD as a ratio to the Gross Domestic Product in 2019 was 0.92%. Analysed by performing sector, the expenditure on research and development (R&D) activities performed in the business, higher education and government sectors amounted to $11,616 million, $13,432 million and $1,284 million respectively in 2019. 
 
     R&D activities refer to creative and systematic work undertaken so as to increase the stock of knowledge for devising new and improved products/processes/applications and improve existing products/processes/applications. 
 
     More detailed statistics on Hong Kong innovation activities, together with the concepts and methodology, are given in the report "Hong Kong Innovation Activities Statistics 2019". Users can download this report free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp120.jsp?productCode=B1110010). The report presents the latest statistics on R&D activities in Hong Kong, with analyses of R&D activities performed in the business, higher education and government sectors. It also contains detailed statistics on innovation activities (including product and business process innovation) in the business sector.
 
     Enquiries about the statistics on Hong Kong innovation activities can be directed to the Science and Technology Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7290 or email: stb1@censtatd.gov.hk).

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (December 23) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza in Koszalinski District of Zachodnio-Pomorskie in Poland and in Cloppenburg and Oldenburg of the State of Niedersachsen, Germany, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.
      
     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, in the first nine months of this year, Hong Kong imported about 9 900 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 21.32 million poultry eggs from Poland, and about 2 500 tonnes of frozen poultry meat and about 880 000 poultry eggs from Germany.
      
     "The CFS has contacted the Polish and German authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the OIE and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.
 

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (December 23) published the December 2020 issue of its Quarterly Bulletin. This issue of Quarterly Bulletin carries a regular article on the banking environment. 
      
     The Quarterly Bulletin can be viewed on and downloaded from the HKMA website.

The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:
 
     The Chief Executive has, on the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission and with the endorsement of the Legislative Council, made the following appointment:
 
     Non-permanent judge from another common law jurisdiction of the Court of Final Appeal
     —————————————————————————————————
     (for a term of three years commencing January 1, 2021)
     The Right Honourable Lord Patrick Hodge