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Following is a question by the Hon Jeffrey Lam and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (October 22):
Question:
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government reached a consensus with the Guangdong Provincial Government in April 2002 to reduce the emission of four major air pollutants in the region by 2010 and a number of measures have been taken to improve air quality. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that newly-registered vehicles with low emissions and high fuel efficiency are eligible for concession on first registration tax, of the respective numbers of models of petrol private cars and commercial vehicles, as anticipated by the Environmental Protection Department, which would enjoy tax concession in the next financial year, and whether such tax concession arrangements would be improved to encourage more car owners to purchase vehicle of such models;
(b) whether it has conducted studies on providing special tax concession to Hong Kong businessmen who have set up manufacturing businesses in the Pearl River Delta Region to encourage them to purchase machines which are more environmentally-friendly; if it has, of the results; and
(c) when it will set out plans and targets for improving regional air quality in 2010 and beyond, as well as the relevant details, such as emission standards?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the three parts of the question is set out below:
(a) There are currently 20 private car models and 10 commercial vehicle models which comply with the qualifying standards (note 1) of the environment-friendly vehicle incentive schemes. We have already uploaded the information on the concerned models and the qualifying standards onto the Environmental Protection Departmentˇ¦s website. The number of environment-friendly car models for the coming financial year is subject to change as car dealers may from time to time introduce new models onto the local market. We will provide timely update on our website in the light of the supply of such vehicles on the local market.
To attract more vehicle buyers to choose environment-friendly vehicles, the crux is to increase the number of environment-friendly vehicle models on the local market. We will therefore continue to encourage vehicle importers to provide more environment-friendly vehicle models on the local market so as to increase the choice available to prospective vehicle buyers. As a matter of fact, as compared with the position at the beginning of the tax incentive schemes, the respective numbers of environment-friendly vehicle models have been increased from 11 to 20 for private cars and from 7 to 10 for commercial vehicles. A vehicle buyer is entitled to a tax concession up to $50,000 for acquiring an environment-friendly private car and up to $78,000 for an environment-friendly commercial vehicle, depending on its vehicle class. We have no plan to change the current incentive schemes.
(b) Government has already implemented the measures announced in the 2008-09 Budget to encourage the business community (including those Hong Kong companies in the Pearl River Delta Region) to install environmental protection facilities. A list of eligible environmental protection facilities is provided in Schedule 17 to the Inland Revenue Ordinance. A 100% tax deduction for capital expenditure on environmental protection machinery is being provided, and the depreciation period for environmental protection installation has been reduced from the usual 25 years to five years. Any Hong Kong company in the Pearl River Delta that owns the eligible environmental protection facilities and uses them for generating profits chargeable to Hong Kong profits tax would be entitled to these tax concessions.
(c) We reached a consensus with the Guangdong Provincial Government in April 2002 to reduce by 2010, on a best endeavour basis, the regional emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, respirable suspended particulates and volatile organic compounds by 40%, 20%, 55% and 55% respectively, using 1997 as the base year. Both Hong Kong and Guangdong are committed to meeting the emission reduction targets. To this end, both sides have implemented a string of emission control and reduction measures under the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Regional Air Quality Management Plan.
At the Eleventh Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference held in August 2008, both sides agreed to map out a strategy to transform the PRD region into a green and quality living area. Building on the co-operation in improving the regional air quality, both sides will seek to develop a more all-rounded strategy to address the environmental issues facing the PRD region. Mapping out the post-2010 arrangements for tackling the regional air pollution problems would be amongst the key areas of co-operation. The Guangdong authorities are embarking upon a study to take forward this proposal. Both sides will draw up detailed cooperation arrangements on the basis of the findings of the study.
(note 1) The qualifying standards of environment-friendly private cars include standards for emissions and fuel efficiency. The current qualifying standards of environment-friendly commercial vehicles are Euro V vehicle emission standards.
Ends/Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:21
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