Hong Kong authorities should step up border inspections following a surge in people bringing in prohibited food items from mainland China without proper health certificates, a lawmaker has said, warning the trend could trigger safety risks and affect local businesses.
Peter Shiu Ka-fai, who represents the retail and wholesale sector in the legislature, also called on the government to increase public education on the issue, after official data showed that the number of people bringing in regulated food into Hong Kong without health certificates had shot up 55 per cent compared with last year.
“I believe most people who violated the laws were unaware their actions were illegal,” he told a radio show on Thursday.
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan told the Legislative Council on Wednesday that up to April this year, 431 non-compliance cases were referred by the Customs and Excise Department regarding people bringing in regulated foods without certificates.
Authorities had prosecuted 503 cases throughout the same period, an increase of 51.5 per cent from last year, the minister added.
Describing the uptick as “quite significant”, Shiu said while he understood the importance of smooth border flows, immigration officers needed to strike a balance with more frequent and careful bag checks to prevent further increases in violations.
Apart from deploying more sniffer dogs, he also called on border officers to enhance customs inspections with the combination of X-ray machines and manual checks.
“This can act as a deterrent to those who knowingly violate the rules,” he said.
The lawmaker said the stepped-up checks were necessary as food products coming from the mainland, including vacuum-packed meats and seafood, might not fully comply with local regulations.
He noted officers tended to be less heavy-handed in their scrutiny of individuals who brought in food for their own consumption. But there was concern about larger scale, commercial imports, which might not meet proper labelling and safety requirements.
Such practices could undermine Hong Kong businesses that had to comply with safety standards, and lead to food safety risks for consumers if products came from unregulated sources.
Shiu also questioned whether current fines for those caught smuggling in prohibited items were too low.
“Right now, it can be as low as a few hundred dollars,” he said. “Under such circumstances, some might think it’s worth the risk and try their luck.”
According to the customs department, the importation of a number of food items including game, meat, poultry, milk and frozen confections are heavily regulated, and health certificates are generally required to bring them into Hong Kong.
