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The following is issued on behalf of the Business Facilitation Advisory Committee Secretariat:
The Business Facilitation Advisory Committee held its eighth meeting today (June 23).
The committee is pleased that the Government is making good progress under the "Be the Smart Regulator" Programme. Some noteworthy progress/developments include -
(a) Nine Business Liaison Groups (BLGs) have been set up for major trades to give their views on licensing/regulatory issues directly to the bureaux/departments concerned. The trades have so far raised 365 issues, of which 296 have been clarified or resolved. The Economic Analysis and Business Facilitation Unit has commissioned a consultant to conduct a survey to collect views from all participants of the trades, with a view to assessing the effectiveness of the BLGs and to further refining their role and functions.
(b) The three Application Tracking Facilities (ATFs) set up for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), Home Affairs Department (HAD) and Social Welfare Department (SWD) to monitor the processing of their licence applications are operating smoothly. The ATFs help improve the efficiency and transparency of the licensing processes. Since February 18, 2008, FEHD's ATF, currently covering 11 types of food business-related licences--General Restaurant Licence, Light Refreshment Restaurant Licence, Marine Restaurant Licence, Food Factory Licence, Bakery Licence, Factory Canteen Licence, Fresh Provision Shop Licence, Frozen Confection Factory Licence, Milk Factory Licence, Siu Mei and Lo Mei Shop Licence and Cold Store Licence--has been opened up to applicants for on-line checking of their application status. As at end May 2008, FEHD's on-line tracking facility covered some 1,000 applications and around 46% of the applicants have made use of the facility to check their application status. The ATFs for HAD and SWD will be opened up later this year; and
(c) The Government's efforts to streamline the licensing procedures and shorten the processing time for small-scale building construction projects (such as building a two-storey warehouse) were publicised as a good example for other economies to learn from by the World Bank in its official Doing Business Blog in May 2008.
The committee reviewed the work of the three business facilitation task forces. Some notable progress/developments include -
(a) As recommended in a consultancy study completed under the steering of the Pre-construction Task Force (PCTF), the Lands Department (LandsD) has already set up a dedicated team in the District Lands Office (Hong Kong West and South) (DLO(HKW&S)) to process all applications for lease modification and land exchange in this district, with a view to expediting the overall process. The LandsD has also concurrently launched a trial scheme to centralise premium valuations from this district. The LandsD Headquarters will conduct the premium valuation according to the development proposal together with other relevant information provided by the DLO(HKW&S). It is anticipated that the valuation process for the above district will be speeded up. The LandsD will assess the effectiveness of the dedicated team approach and the centralisation of premium valuations;
(b) As recommended by the Working Group on Review of Premium Valuation Process formed under the PCTF, the LandsD has recently established a regular communication forum with the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors to exchange views on matters relating to valuation parameters and the premium assessment process;
(c) The Food Business Task Force is monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of two recently completed reviews on "Food factory licence" and "Transfer of food-related licences". The departments concerned have already implemented a number of recommendations (such as elimination of unnecessary departmental referrals/certification on compliance, provision of enhanced training to frontline staff on processing applications for alterations, publication of enhanced licensing guide on drawing of layout plan, etc.) to help streamline the processing of applications for food factory licences and transfer of food business licences;
(d) As recommended by the Retail Task Force (RTF) and the trade, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board and its Registration Committee have decided to make some relaxations to the registration requirements of beauty/health food products. The relaxations have taken immediate effect after trade consultation; and
(e) Regarding the nutrition labelling scheme for pre-packaged food in Hong Kong, the Government has undertaken to do its utmost to assist the trade to comply with the labelling requirements before the commencement date on July 1, 2010, through various channels, including technical meetings, workshops, regular exchanges at the Trade Consultation Forum and issuance of a technical guidance note. The Government will also launch a publicity programme to educate the public on how to read food labels. The RTF has appealed to the Government to continue working in partnership with the trade in thrashing out any implementation issues and finalise the Technical Guidance Notes for issue to the trade by the end of June 2008. The RTF has also urged the Government to closely monitor the market situation.
The committee discussed with the Government the restaurant trade's concerns about the reassessment mechanism of Trade Effluent Surcharge. The committee appealed to the Government to continue with its efforts to actively engage the stakeholders and trades concerned to streamline the reassessment process and make the system more user-friendly.
Papers for the committee meeting will be uploaded onto the Internet (www.eabfu.gov.hk/en/committee/index.htm) for access by the public.
Ends/Monday, June 23, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:46
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