Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Transport Department (TD) said today (January 17) that, as one of the smart mobility initiatives, the replacement of about 9 800 existing roadside parking meters in Hong Kong by new ones has been completed to replace the old Octopus card-operated parking meters. 

     The new parking meters support the payment of parking fees through multiple means, and are equipped with sensors to detect whether a parking space is occupied. The new meters also support on-site and remote payments of parking fees through the mobile application “HKeMeter”. Details are available at the TD’s website (www.td.gov.hk/en/transport_in_hong_kong/parking/parking_meters/npm/index.html). For enquiries, members of the public can call the 24-hour service hotline at 2332 3700.

     Moreover, the TD reminds holders of e-Park cards who wish to apply for a refund must visit designated outlets on or before June 30, otherwise no refund can be made. Details of refund locations are as follows: 
 

Address	12/F, HKT Lockhart Exchange Building, 3 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai	G/F, HKT Tsuen Wan Exchange Building, 303-313 Castle Peak Road – Tsuen Wan, Tsuen Wan
Enquiry Hotline	2332 3700
Office Hour	9am – 7pm on Mondays to Saturdays (except Sundays and public holidays)

     The e-Park card is an electronic stored value card launched by the TD in 1998 for the use of the then e-Park card parking meters. The e-Park card parking meters ceased operation in late 2004 and were replaced by the Octopus card-operated parking meters. read more

     â€‹Hong Kong Customs in April last year conducted an enforcement operation against a chain retailing group for selling suspected law-breaking personal care and household cleaning products. About 500 reports were received afterwards alleging that the goods sold by a number of retailers in the market failed to bear Chinese and English bilingual warnings or cautions in the product information marked on the packages and were suspected to be in contravention of the Consumer Goods Safety Regulation (CGSR), a subsidiary legislation of the Consumer Goods Safety Ordinance. 

     Customs officers have taken appropriate enforcement action after examining the relevant information of each report. During the investigation process spanning more than six months, the officers successfully test-purchased consumer goods suspected to be in contravention of the law from dozens of retailers in various districts. It was found that 60 models of products lacked warnings or cautions in both Chinese and English languages in respect of their safe keeping, use, consumption or disposal, and were suspected to have violated the CGSR. 

     In a series of enforcement actions, Customs launched investigations into about 90 traders (including chain retailing groups, retailers, suppliers and importers) and ordered the traders concerned to store about 19 000 items of 60 models of suspected law-breaking products at designated premises for further investigation. Those 60 models involved various types of products, including hand sanitiser, surgical masks, skincare products, personal care products, household cleaning products, clothing mist, laundry balls and deodorant as well as the five models of products referred by a related organisation to Customs recently.

     Follow-up investigations of all cases are ongoing.

     Under the CGSR, where consumer goods or their packages are marked with warnings or cautions with respect to their safe keeping, use, consumption or disposal, such warnings or cautions shall be in both English and Chinese languages. Moreover, the warning or caution phrases must be legibly and conspicuously shown on the goods, any package of the goods, a label securely affixed to the package or a document enclosed in the package. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for one year on first conviction, and $500,000 and imprisonment for two years on subsequent conviction.

     Members of the public with information relating to unsafe or law-breaking consumer goods may make a report via Customs’ 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk). read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:      During the winter surge, the Hospital Authority closely monitors the service demand of Accident and Emergency Departments and the occupancy rates in public ho… read more

    The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said today (January 17) that to provide further relief to the sectors directly affected by the tightened social distancing measures, applications for the Catering Business Subsidy Scheme, the Commercial Bathhouse Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme and the Places of Public Entertainment Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme under the fifth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund (AEF) starts today until February 18.

    To provide relief for catering premises providing dine-in services, the new-round Catering Business Subsidy Scheme will provide a one-off subsidy ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 to eligible licence holders of general restaurants, light refreshment restaurants, marine restaurants and factory canteens in operation according to the floor areas of the premises as specified on their licences. It is estimated that the scheme will benefit over 17 600 catering outlets.

    Moreover, for each eligible catering outlet mentioned above, if it is also running a karaoke establishment, nightclub and bar or pub and has closed the whole of its licensed premises as directed under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirement and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F), it is eligible to apply for an additional one-off subsidy of $25,000 according to the respective business.

    The Government will also continue to provide financial support to licensees of eligible food factory licences in food courts inside shopping malls. “Food court” means a place inside a shopping mall comprising licensed food factories and an adjoining seating area (with both tables and chairs/stools) provided by the property management/owner of the shopping mall for non-exclusive use by its visitors, which may include patrons of the licensed food factories. Each licensee of eligible licensed food factories in operation is eligible for a one-off subsidy ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 according to the licensed area of its premises. If the business is not run by the licence holder, an affirmation of the business operator on supporting the application of the subsidy is required. About 1 700 licensees of eligible licensed food factories are expected to benefit from the scheme.

    As regards cooked food/light refreshment market stall tenants as well as persons holding a hawker licence and operating cooked food business in public housing developments, each tenant or licensee is eligible to apply for a one-off subsidy of $25,000. It is expected to benefit about 1 000 operators.

    Separately, the Commercial Bathhouse Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme will provide a one-off subsidy of $50,000 to each eligible licence holder of a commercial bathhouse. The Places of Public Entertainment Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme will provide a one-off subsidy of $50,000 for each eligible holder of a places of public entertainment licence (PPEL) (excluding cinema operators eligible under the Cinemas Subsidy Scheme) and $10,000 for each eligible holder of a temporary places of public entertainment licence (TPPEL). The schemes are expected to benefit the licence holders of around 50 commercial bathhouses, about 570 PPEL holders and TPPEL holders.

    A spokesman for the FEHD reminded that corporate applicant shall hold a valid Certificate of Incorporation under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) with status “live” as shown in the Integrated Companies Registry Information System of the Registrar of Companies throughout the application for this AEF subsidy. In addition, the applicant should not be bankrupt/wound-up or subject to any bankruptcy or winding up procedure/proceedings throughout application to the date of receiving the subsidy.

    For eligible holders of food licence, liquor licence, karaoke establishment permit, commercial bathhouse licence and places of public entertainment licence, the application forms and guidelines can be obtained from various District Environmental Hygiene Offices of the FEHD starting from today. The application documents and details of the schemes can also be downloaded from the website of the FEHD (www.fehd.gov.hk). The applicants can submit their applications as appropriate through the FEHD website. They can also submit their applications to various District Environmental Hygiene Offices of the FEHD (to the corresponding licensing offices for liquor licences) in person or by mail. The deadline for application is February 18. For approved applications, the FEHD will disburse the subsidies by crossed cheques to the correspondence addresses of the licensed premises registered in the FEHD.

    The FEHD will distribute application forms separately to its cooked food/light refreshment market stall tenants as well as hawker licensees who operate cooked food business in public housing developments. They do not need to make applications online.

    The Government had earlier on provided financial relief measures to businesses affected by the epidemic and the Government’s various anti-epidemic and social distancing measures through a number of schemes under various rounds of the AEF, including the Food Licence Holders Subsidy Scheme, the Subsidy Scheme for Tenants of Cooked Food/Light Refreshment Stalls at FEHD Markets, the Catering Business (Social Distancing) Subsidy Scheme, the Food Courts Subsidy Scheme, the previous rounds of Catering Business Subsidy Scheme; the Commercial Bathhouse Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme and the Places of Public Entertainment Licence Holder Subsidy Scheme. Hitherto, a total of over $13 billion in subsidies has been disbursed to eligible applicants. read more

     â€‹The Government yesterday (January 16) exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) to make a “restriction-testing declaration” effective from 7pm yesterday, under which people (hereafter referred to as “persons subject to compulsory testing”) within the specified “restricted area” in Aberdeen (i.e. 2-4 Tung Sing Road, Aberdeen, excluding the shops located on G/F of 2-8 Tung Sing Road) were required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing. Persons subject to compulsory testing were required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the area had undergone testing and the test results were mostly ascertained. Moreover, the Government issued a compulsory testing notice yesterday, requiring persons who had been present at the above building for more than two hours from December 27, 2021 to January 16, 2022, even if they were not present in the “restricted area” at the time when the declaration took effect, to undergo compulsory testing on or before January 18, 2022. The Government announced the completion of the compulsory testing exercise at around 6.30am today (January 17) and carried out enforcement action in the “restricted area” afterwards to verify that all people in the “restricted area” had undergone compulsory testing in accordance with the requirements of the relevant declaration and compulsory testing notice. The Government announced that the enforcement operation ended at around 8.30am today.

     In this exercise, the Home Affairs Department (including the Southern District Office), the Hong Kong Police Force, and the Auxiliary Medical Service mobilised around 80 staff to arrange for implementation of the declaration and enforcement actions for breaches of the compulsory testing notice issued earlier.

     The Government provided simple food for persons subject to compulsory testing, including canned food and instant noodles, so as to facilitate the dinner arrangements of some persons subject to compulsory testing. One box of masks and bleach were also provided to each person subject to compulsory testing to help them fight against the virus.

     The Southern District Office also set up a hotline for people restricted by the declaration to make enquiries and seek assistance.

     The Government thanks persons subject to compulsory testing for their support and understanding. With everyone’s co-operation and efforts, coupled with the tireless efforts of the testing contractors, residents have been informed about their testing results by SMS notification. After finishing the compulsory testing exercise at around 6.30am today, the Government took enforcement action in the “restricted area” immediately to verify that all people in the “restricted area” had undergone testing according to the requirements of the declaration and the compulsory testing notice. Persons who could present an SMS notification containing a negative testing result or wore a wristband as proof of having undergone the compulsory testing could leave the “restricted area” through the designated exit after providing personal information to a prescribed officer. The enforcement operation was completed at around 8.30am. Test records of around 20 persons subject to compulsory testing were checked. Nobody was found to have not undergone compulsory testing. Taking into account the above situation, the Secretary for Food and Health revoked the “restriction-testing declaration” in accordance with Cap. 599J (see attachment).

     The Government reminds the about 10 households who have not answered the door to contact the Government for arrangement of testing as soon as possible after reading the notices put up by the Government, in the hope of eliminating the possible risk of further spread of the virus in the community.

     The Government thanks all participating government staff and the testing agencies for their hard work. The Government is also grateful to those subject to compulsory testing for their support and understanding, and their full co-operation during this period in undergoing testing and waiting for the results at home.

     The Government will seriously follow up on the compliance situation of the compulsory testing notices and the “restriction-testing declaration” by persons subject to compulsory testing. Any person who fails to comply with the compulsory testing notices commits an offence and may be liable to a fixed penalty of $5,000. The person will also be issued with a compulsory testing order, requiring him or her to undergo testing within a specified time frame. Failure to comply with the order or the “restriction-testing declaration” is an offence and the offender may be liable to a fine of level 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months. 

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