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Following is a question by the Hon Sin Chung-kai and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (November 28):
Question:
It is learnt that the diesel sold on the Mainland has a sulphur content higher than that of the diesel sold locally. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the current number of cross-boundary diesel vehicles, broken down by vehicle class;
(b) whether there is a requirement that the fuel in the fuel tanks of cross-boundary diesel vehicles entering the territory must meet the stipulated specifications; if so, of the details; and
(c) whether it will consider setting up inspection kiosks at boundary control points to restrict the entry of cross-boundary diesel vehicles whose fuel tanks contain mainland fuel that exceeds the specified quantity; if it will, of the details?
Reply:
Madam President,
The best approach to control cross-boundary air pollution in Hong Kong caused by vehicles using mainland fuel is to promote raising the quality of motor vehicle fuels in the Mainland. In this connection, the Mainland has fully adopted unleaded petrol since 2000. The Guangdong Provincial Government has also been gradually raising the quality of diesel. Prior to 2002, the sulphur content of the Mainland diesel was 0.5%. This has been tightened to 0.2% since 2002. Starting from April this year, all petrol filling stations in Shenzhen have gone further to supply only motor vehicle diesel of sulphur content not
greater than 0.035%, which represents a 83% reduction in sulphur content as compared with that before April this year, and even a 93% reduction when compared with that before 2002. The Guangdong Provincial Government is also planning to extend the use of this motor vehicle diesel with relatively low sulphur content to the whole province. In the past few years, the quality of Mainland motor vehicle fuels has substantially improved. That said, we will continue to work with the Guangdong Provincial Government to raise the quality of motor vehicle fuels with a view to improving the air quality of the Pearl River Delta Region as well as Hong Kong.
(a) According to the records provided by the Transport Department, the number of cross-boundary diesel vehicles broken down by vehicle class is set out below:
Class Number (rounded to the nearest ten)
Private car 20
Bus 930
Goods vehicle 17,260
Total 18,210
(b) & (c) There are enforcement difficulties with stipulating the specifications of the fuel in the fuel tanks of cross-boundary diesel vehicles entering the territory. However, legislation is in place to restrict the volume of Mainland motor vehicle fuel carried by cross-boundary vehicles entering the territory. Under the Dutiable Commodities Regulations (Cap.109A), the amount of fuel in the fuel tank of a goods vehicle arriving from the Mainland for its use is exempted from duty up to the volume shown below:
Cylinder capacity Volume of fuel exempted
of vehicle from duty
Below 3,000 cm3 100 L
3,000 to 10,000 cm3 200 L
Over 10,000 cm3 300 L
In Hong Kong, selling or transferring into another vehicle the motor vehicle fuel exempted from duty as mentioned above is an offence which carries a maximum penalty of a fine of $1 million and an imprisonment for 24 months.
As mentioned above, our policy for controlling cross-boundary air pollution caused by vehicles using Mainland fuel is to improve the quality of such fuels through joint efforts with Guangdong. In addition, cross-boundary coaches and goods vehicles are required to be registered in Hong Kong and comply with the emission standards for Hong Kong vehicles so as to control their pollution levels.
Ends/Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:18
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