In his Policy Address last year, the Chief Executive proposed to advance the development of a digital government and collaborate with Guangdong Province to promote the Cross-boundary Public Services initiative. The Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau (ITIB) announced today (June 14) the setting up of Hong Kong Cross-boundary Public Services self-service kiosks at two locations in Shenzhen. The self-service kiosks will help residents and enterprises in Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) access public services of Hong Kong without the need to travel to Hong Kong in person.
 
     Starting today, the public can use the Hong Kong Cross-boundary Public Services self-service kiosks located in the following two Shenzhen service centres to access various public services of Hong Kong:

• Qianhai e-Station Government Service Center of Shenzhen Municipality (opening hours: 9am to noon and 2pm to 6pm, Monday to Friday except public holidays on the Mainland)
• e-Station Comprehensive Service Center of Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone (opening hours: 9am to noon and 1pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday except public holidays on the Mainland)

     For details, please visit the Hong Kong Cross-boundary Public Services thematic website at www.crossboundaryservices.gov.hk/en/home/index.html.

     Following the first Hong Kong Cross-boundary Public Services self-service kiosk which commenced operation in Guangzhou in February this year, the Cross-boundary Public Services self-service kiosks currently provide over 60 public services from 11 government bureaux and departments as well as related organisations, encompassing areas commonly used by enterprises and the public including taxation, company registration, property and vehicle enquiry and registration, personal identification documents and applications for entry of talent, welfare and education, healthcare, immigration clearance, urgent assistance as well as culture and tourism. Members of the public can use the self-service kiosks to perform data entry, document scanning and result printing to enjoy one-stop access when applying for various public services.
 
     The Cross-boundary Public Services self-service kiosks will introduce the use of Intrusion Detected Continuous Re-authentication technology in the next phase to further enhance privacy protection for kiosk users. This technology is developed by the Logistics and Supply Chain MultiTech R&D Centre, and was awarded a bronze medal at the 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva in April this year.
 
     In addition, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer has set up "iAM Smart" self-registration kiosks at the two locations mentioned above to enable Hong Kong residents working and living on the Mainland to register for, or upgrade to, "iAM Smart+" to enjoy convenient online services. For details and registration requirements, please visit the "iAM Smart" thematic website at www.iamsmart.gov.hk/en/reg.html.
 
     A spokesman for the ITIB expressed sincere gratitude to the Guangdong Provincial Administration of Government Service and Data for its strong support and the two Shenzhen service centres above for their full co-operation. The ITIB will continue to discuss with the Guangdong Provincial Administration of Government Service and Data to set up self-service kiosks in more Mainland cities of the GBA to cope with the demands of residents and enterprises in the GBA for Hong Kong Government services.
 
     To implement the State Council's Guiding Opinions to all provincial governments on Cross-provincial Public Services and their comprehensive deployment, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government accepted the invitation of the People's Government of Guangdong Province in 2021 to jointly launch the GBA Cross-boundary Public Services, and worked with Guangdong Province in November last year to introduce a dedicated service area/thematic website for Cross-boundary Public Services. The initiative enables enterprises and the public in both regions to enjoy simple and convenient cross-boundary services, with a view to facilitating the provision of public services and investment in the GBA, and enhancing the satisfaction and sense of contentment of enterprises and the public in accessing services across the boundary.

          

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (June 13) raided a large-scale storage centre in San Tin, Yuen Long, for suspected duty-not-paid cigarettes (commonly known as "cheap whites") and seized about 10.6 million suspected illicit cigarettes with an estimated market value of about $48 million and a duty potential of about $35 million. About 7.3 million suspected illicit cigarettes seized were "cheap whites", accounting for about 70 per cent of the total seizure. It was the largest case of "cheap whites" detected by Customs this year.

     Upon searching a metal shed of about 2 000 square feet in Wing Ping Village, San Tin, yesterday afternoon, Customs seized the batch of suspected illicit cigarettes from three containers there and arrested two men, aged 44 and 66, suspected to be connected with the case. 

     The case is still under investigation. The two arrested men have been released on bail pending further investigation.

     Customs will continue to trace the source and whereabouts of the illicit cigarettes, and believes that some of the seized "cheap whites" would have been exported to other countries.

     Customs will continue its risk assessment and intelligence analysis for interception at source as well as through its multipronged enforcement strategy targeting storage, distribution and peddling to spare no effort in combating illicit cigarette activities.

     Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, anyone involved in dealing with, possession of, selling or buying illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

  

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Friday, June 14, 2024 is 106.5 (up 0.2 against as yesterday's index).

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (June 14) released the latest grading of water quality for 39 gazetted beaches (see Note 1) and one non-gazetted beach (see Note 2).
 
     Twelve beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1), 23 as Fair (Grade 2), and five as Poor (Grade 3).
 
Grade 1 beaches are:          

 
Grade 2 beaches are:

 
Grade 3 beaches are:

 
     Compared with the grading released last week, Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach has been upgraded from Grade 3 to Grade 2, and Castle Peak Beach from Grade 4 to Grade 3. Upper Cheung Sha Beach has been changed from Grade 1 to Grade 2.
 
     "The changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of the beaches," an EPD spokesman said.
 
     Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades, namely Good (Grade 1), Fair (Grade 2), Poor (Grade 3) and Very Poor (Grade 4), according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.
 
     While the ratings represent the general water quality at the beaches, the EPD spokesman reminded members of the public that water quality could be temporarily affected during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after a tropical cyclone or heavy rainfall.
 
     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the EPD's website on Beach Water Quality (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666. Members of the public can also obtain the latest daily water quality forecast information for all beaches that are open for swimming through the Beach Water Quality Forecast mobile application (available for download from: www.epd.gov.hk/en/BWQApp) or the dedicated beach water quality forecast page (www.epd.gov.hk/en/BWQForecast) on the EPD's beach thematic website.
 
Note 1: Lifesaving services are provided by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department at 21 gazetted beaches, marked with an asterisk (*) above, from June 1. Due to the damage caused to the footpaths leading to Chung Hom Kok Beach by landslides, the beach is temporarily closed until further notice. For details, please refer to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's Special Announcement (www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/beach/index.html).
 
Note 2: This refers to Discovery Bay Tai Pak Beach which is a non-gazetted beach that has no lifesaving service.

     In response to the Japanese Government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on June 13 to noon today (June 14), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 264 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the "aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt" category. No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS's thematic website titled "Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan" (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).

     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 50 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD's website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO's website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 59 044 samples of food imported from Japan (including 38 135 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 14 640 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.