Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has all along been committed to combating the sale of chilled or frozen meat disguised as fresh meat, and raided a licensed fresh provision shop (FPS) in Yuen Long District suspected of selling chilled or frozen meat as fresh meat, in an operation today (August 4).

     During the operation, FEHD officers raided a licensed FPS on Mau Tan Street, Yuen Long, and destroyed around 723 kilograms of suspected chilled or frozen meat. Pork samples were also collected for testing for preservatives, and prosecution will be taken out if sufficient evidence is collected. The licensee of the FPS is suspected of breaching the licensing condition for the display and sale of chilled or frozen meat as fresh meat, and the FEHD is proceeding with the cancellation of the FPS’s licence.

     FEHD officers also initiated prosecution against the licensee of the FPS for dirtiness at the premises. In addition, verbal warnings were issued to the licensee of the FPS for non-compliance with relevant licensing conditions for failing to provide delivery notes for inspection and failing to display a notice with specified dimensions at a conspicuous location facing customers at the entrance of the premises so as to indicate clearly the product types being sold at the premises.

     An FEHD spokesman said, “Selling of chilled or frozen meat disguised as fresh meat breaches the licensing conditions and causes food safety problems. Also, the operation of these profiteers is unfair to other shops that comply with the requirements.”

     The spokesman added, “Anyone selling chilled meat or frozen meat without permission commits an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and six months’ imprisonment on conviction. The department will continue to conduct regular inspections at licensed FPSs and market meat stalls, and will vigorously handle the complaints received. In detecting any irregularities, the FEHD will carry out immediate investigations and take appropriate enforcement action. In addition, the FEHD also proactively investigates suspected violations from time to time, and conducts surprise inspections and enforcement actions as necessary. If there is sufficient evidence, prosecutions will be initiated and follow-up action will be taken against a breach of licensing conditions or tenancy agreements. The licences of FPSs breaching licensing conditions may be cancelled, while the tenancies of market meat stalls breaching tenancy agreements may be terminated.”

     The spokesman stressed that the FEHD is very concerned and has been committed to combating the sale of chilled or frozen meat disguised as fresh meat by taking stringent enforcement actions against the violations.

  

     A Mainland visitor was convicted of two counts of making false representation to an Immigration Department (ImmD) staff member and sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment at the Shatin Magistrates’ Courts today (August 4).
 
     The 52-year-old male defendant arrived in Hong Kong at the Lo Wu Control Point on August 2, 2023. He falsely told an Immigration Officer that he was in transit to Bangkok, Thailand, and presented his People’s Republic of China passport and an electronic air ticket showing that he was departing on the following day. He was then granted entry to Hong Kong. When the defendant intended to depart for Macao on the same day at the Macau Ferry Terminal Control Point, he was intercepted for further examination. He again falsely claimed that he would come back to Hong Kong and depart for Thailand on the following day after his trip to Macao. Upon further investigation, he admitted that his actual purpose of visit was not for sightseeing in Hong Kong or transiting through Hong Kong to Thailand but only for visiting Macao.
 
     The arrested Mainland visitor was charged with two counts of making false representation to an Immigration Officer at the Shatin Magistrates’ Courts today. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment for each offence, with part of the sentence to run consecutively, making a total of nine months’ imprisonment.
 
     The ImmD spokesman warned that, under the laws of Hong Kong, any person who makes false representation to an Immigration Officer commits an offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, the maximum penalty will be a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years. read more

     The Immigration Department (ImmD) mounted a series of territory-wide anti-illegal worker operations codenamed “Greenlane” and “Twilight”, and a joint operation with the Hong Kong Police Force codenamed “Windsand”, for four consecutive days from July 31 to yesterday (August 3). A total of seven suspected illegal workers and one suspected employer was arrested.
 
     During the anti-illegal worker operations, ImmD Task Force officers raided 36 target locations including industrial buildings, premises under renovation, residential buildings, restaurants, retail stops, a salon and warehouses. Six suspected illegal workers and one suspected employer were arrested. The arrested suspected illegal workers comprised three men and three women, aged 32 to 53. Among them, two men and one woman were holders of recognisance forms, which prohibit them from taking any employment. One man, aged 85, was suspected of employing the illegal workers and was also arrested.

     Furthermore, during operation “Windsand”, one female Mainland visitor, aged 36, was arrested for breaching her condition of stay by being involved in suspected illegal parallel trading activities at San Wan Road in Sheung Shui district. The goods mainly included health products.

     An ImmD spokesman said, “Any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him or her shall be guilty of an offence. Also, visitors are not allowed to take employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the permission of the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years’ imprisonment. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties.”

     The spokesman warned, “As stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, an illegal immigrant, a person who is the subject of a removal order or a deportation order, an overstayer or a person who was refused permission to land is prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years’ imprisonment.”

     The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. Under the Immigration Ordinance, the maximum penalty for an employer employing a person who is not lawfully employable, i.e. an illegal immigrant, a person who is the subject of a removal order or a deportation order, an overstayer or a person who was refused permission to land, has been significantly increased from a fine of $350,000 and three years’ imprisonment to a fine of $500,000 and 10 years’ imprisonment to reflect the gravity of such offences. The director, manager, secretary, partner, etc, of the company concerned may also bear criminal liability. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence.

     According to the court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee’s identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker’s valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $150,000 and to imprisonment for one year. In that connection, the spokesman would like to remind all employers not to defy the law by employing illegal workers. The ImmD will continue to take resolute enforcement action to combat such offences.

     Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct an initial screening of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the ImmD officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threats and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent intervention, medical services, counselling, shelter or temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments immediately.

    

     Police today (August 4) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Wong Tai Sin.      Gan Zhen, aged 27, went missing after he left his residence in Fung Tak Estate on August 2 morning. His family made a report … read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Environmental Campaign Committee:

     The Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) today (August 4) officially launched the Carbon Neutrality Publicity Campaign. The Campaign will cover a series of large-scale publicity activities in the next two years to raise public awareness on the imminence of climate change, and the need to reverse habits and reduce carbon together in energy saving, green transport and waste reduction at source in order to tackle climate change.

     The Campaign, with funding support from the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF), is organised by the ECC, and co-organised by the Environment and Ecology Bureau, the Environmental Protection Department and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. The objective of the Campaign is to encourage members of the public to act in line with the decarbonisation strategies proposed in the Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050 promulgated by the Government in 2021. It is important for the public to start making changes in their daily habits in respect of clothing, food, living and travel to reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

     Officiating at the launch ceremony at the City Gallery in Central, the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, kick-started the Campaign. In his speech, Mr Tse expounded on the decarbonisation strategies in the Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050, and said that the Government will continue to develop zero-carbon energy, try using new energy solutions, and strengthen regional co-operation to achieve “net-zero power generation”. To achieve the goals of zero vehicular emissions and zero carbon emissions in the transport sector in the longer term before 2050, the Government will continue promoting new energy transport including buses, light buses, taxis, goods vehicles and ferries, etc. As to waste reduction, the Government will carry on expanding the community recycling network to promote waste reduction at source and clean recycling, and develop a new generation of waste-to-energy facilities to reduce reliance on landfills. At the same time, the Government will prepare for the implementation of municipal solid waste charging.

     Other officiating guests of the ceremony included the Chairman of the ECC, Professor Simon Wong; the Chairman of the ECF Committee, Dr Eric Cheng; the Convenor of the Education Working Group under the ECC, Mr Wong Chi-keung; and the Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Environment), Miss Janice Tse.

     The ECC will roll out a series of publicity activities to the public to promote how to reduce carbon emissions, including broadcasting a new promotional video on TV and social media platforms. Premiered at the launch ceremony, the promotional video stresses the extreme climate change faced across the whole world, and appeals for public participation in committing to low carbon living by changing their habits and striving together for carbon neutrality by 2050.

     After the launch ceremony, Mr Tse joined the guests to visit the carbon neutrality information kiosk at the City Gallery manned by student representatives of the Student Environmental Protection Ambassador Scheme organised by the ECC. The kiosk will be open to the public from August 5 until September 30.

     For more information on the Campaign, please visit the thematic webpage on the ECC’s website (www.ecc.org.hk/en/publicity/cnpc.html).