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Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Hok-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Frederick Ma, in the Legislative Council today (November 22):
Question:
It has been reported that a rare and fatal truck blaze took place on Tolo Highway in October this year. It was suspected that the incident might have involved the driver storing smuggled petrol in the cabin. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has investigated the situation of cross-border truck drivers storing smuggled petrol in the cabin; if it has, of the outcome of the investigation and relevant statistics; whether such act is in breach of the laws of Hong Kong; if so, of the number of prosecutions in the past five years; and
(b) whether it has studied the feasibility of setting up duty-free petrol filling stations at border crossing points, including the anticipated difficulties and costs to be incurred; if it has, of the findings of the study; if it has not, whether it will conduct such study and consider setting up duty-free petrol filling stations at border crossing points, so as to curb the situation of cross-border truck drivers storing smuggled petrol?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) has been closely monitoring the situation of cross-border vehicles illegally carrying duty-not-paid fuel back to Hong Kong. The Dutiable Commodities Ordinance provides that a person entering Hong Kong shall declare the quantity of any duty-not-paid fuel carried by him which is in excess of the exempt quantities. Any person who fails to do so commits an offence.
The C&ED conducts spot checks on vehicles at boundary control points, and intercepted vehicles will be searched thoroughly. If a vehicle is found carrying undeclared and duty-not-paid fuel (e.g. petrol) in addition to the fuel allowed in its fuel tank, the driver will be liable to fine or prosecution under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance. The maximum penalty is a fine of $1,000,000 and imprisonment for two years. Under the Dangerous Goods Ordinance, petrol is classified as dangerous goods in category 5. Any person conveying more than 20 litres of petrol must use a vehicle with a licence for conveyance of dangerous goods in category 5. Any person who is in breach of this provision shall be liable to a maximum fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months. If a driver is found to have carried duty-not-paid petrol for over 20 litres, the C&ED, apart from dealing with the case in accordance with the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, will also refer it to the Fire Services Department for follow-up action under the Dangerous Good Ordinance.
Cases of cross-border truck drivers carrying duty-not-paid petrol in the cabin are not common. The number of such cases detected by C&ED between 2002 and the end of September 2006 is as follows:
Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
(Jan to Sep)
---- ----- ---- ---- ------------
Prosecuted/fined
under the
Dutiable 1 2 2 4 1
Commodities
Ordinance
(of which
prosecuted under (0) (0) (2) (4) (1)
the Dangerous
Goods Ordinance)
(b) Currently, the fuel in the fuel tanks of all non-goods vehicles entering Hong Kong from the Mainland is not subject to duty, whereas goods vehicles may carry in their fuel tanks different quantities of duty-free fuel according to the cylinder capacity of the vehicle. We consider that the existing quantities of duty-free fuel allowed by law are sufficient for the inbound journey for cross boundary vehicles. Moreover, there will still be a significant price difference between fuel in Hong Kong and that in the Mainland even if the former is tax free. We therefore consider that there is no practical need to set up duty free oil stations at the boundary crossings, nor will this measure be an effective means to deter fuel smuggling.
Ends/Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Issued at HKT 13:05
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