The Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) announced today (December 14) that the Single E-lock Scheme has extended its clearance point network in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong to include 12 additional points this year, including a new clearance point at the Hong Kong International Airport Air Mail Centre (AMC) which commenced operation in mid-December to extend the Scheme's coverage from cargo to China Post Hong Kong Limited (China Post)'s Mainland postal items passing through Hong Kong.
"To facilitate business development, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been actively exploring with the Mainland customs authorities on the extension of the Scheme, including the establishment of more clearance points in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The number of clearance points in Guangdong Province has increased from 52 to 63 starting this year, covering all nine Mainland municipalities within the GBA. With the addition of the newly commissioned AMC clearance point, the number of clearance points in Hong Kong has also increased to 13 starting this month. The expanded network of clearance points under the Scheme now provides the trade with 819 cross-boundary route options," a C&ED spokesman said.
The Scheme facilitates intermodal transhipment of cargo between Hong Kong and Guangdong by simplifying the clearance process through the use of technology, thus reducing time and transportation costs and enhancing the clearance efficiency of cross-boundary road cargo. Participants under the Scheme can use any one of the land boundary control points to transport cargo between Hong Kong and Mainland China.
With the commissioning of cargo inspection facilities at the Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point (HYWBCP) in August this year, vehicles participating in the Scheme can travel to and from eastern Shenzhen, Huizhou, Heyuan, Jieyang, Meizhou and Shantou via the HYWBCP and the "Eastern Corridor" in Guangdong. Compared with last year, the number of clearance points in the eastern part of Guangdong Province has increased from six to 10. In addition, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge connects Hong Kong with the western part of Guangdong Province, including Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Luoding, Maoming, Zhanjiang and other places, where the number of clearance points has also increased, from 12 to 15.
Hong Kong and Guangdong Customs have also set up new clearance points at Guangdong mail processing centres and the AMC in Hong Kong, which enables the Scheme to extend from cargo to Mainland postal items passing through Hong Kong. China Post can now transport postal items from the Mainland to the AMC by land and then send them to overseas destinations through the aviation network of Hong Kong International Airport. By means of electronic locks and Global Positioning System devices, both Customs administrations can ensure that the postal items are not tampered with throughout the transportation process. Repeated inspection on the same batch of postal items can be minimised, thereby simplifying the clearance process.
"At present, 11 major logistics and express courier service operators in Hong Kong have joined the Scheme. We welcome the continuous increase of clearance points under the Scheme in Guangdong Province, which will further expedite cargo flow between Hong Kong and the Mainland and strengthen Hong Kong's position as an international trading and logistics hub. We will continue to encourage different types of enterprises to make full use of the Scheme and the expanded clearance point network, so as to capitalise on business opportunities brought about by developments in the GBA and the opening of the new boundary control point," the spokesman said.
For more details about the Scheme and the network of clearance points, please refer to the C&ED's website: www.customs.gov.hk/en/trade_facilitation/sels/index.html.
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