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The following is issued on behalf of the Business Facilitation Advisory Committee Secretariat:
The Business Facilitation Advisory Committee held its ninth meeting today (November 13).
The Environmental Protection Department briefed the committee on its consultation with the retail trade on the implementation details of the environmental levy scheme on plastic shopping bags. The committee complimented the department¡¦s consultation efforts and appealed to the department to continue the dialogue with the retail trade and other stakeholders concerned in the run-up to the launch of the environmental levy scheme.
The committee is pleased that the Government continues to make good progress under the ¡§Be the Smart Regulator¡¨ Programme. Some noteworthy progress/developments include ¡V
(a) According to the results of an opinion survey commissioned by the Economic Analysis and Business Facilitation Unit (EABFU), most participants from the trades are highly satisfied with the role and functions of the nine Business Liaison Groups (BLGs) set up for major trades to communicate directly with Government bureaux/departments on licensing/regulatory issues. The EABFU will continue to explore ways to encourage more SMEs to join the BLGs;
(b) The Government has recently launched a business consultation e-platform under the GovHK portal to further strengthen business consultations. The e-platform can be accessed via http://bizconsult.eabfu.gov.hk. Business sectors can access consultation information relating to new regulations and administrative measures and procedures that would impact on business via the e-platform and offer their views and comments directly to the relevant Government bureaux/departments for consideration. The business sectors can also make use of the Government¡¦s free subscription service to receive updates on consultation exercises on the regulatory proposals;
(c) To further streamline the procedures in dealing with construction permits, the Efficiency Unit (EU) will set up a one-stop shop to receive applications and co-ordinate joint inspection by end November 2008;
(d) The EU has recently awarded a contract for the development of an e-Liquor Licence System with a view to further expediting the licensing process and improving its transparency through the provision of electronic services for licence applications and related communications. The system is expected to be in operation by April 2009; and
(e) 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 have greatly enhanced their licensing services. The ATFs in the FEHD and HAD have been opened up to applicants for online checking of their application status with positive response. Action is being taken to open up the ATF in the SWD for applicants¡¦ online checking.
The committee also reviewed the work of the three business facilitation task forces. Some notable progress/developments include ¡V
(a) As a measure to expedite the processing of lease modification and land exchange applications as recommended by the Pre-construction Task Force (PCTF), the Lands Department (LandsD) has set up, as a pilot scheme, 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 and concurrently launched a trial scheme of centralisation of premium assessments from this district since April 2008. The initial results of the pilot ¡§dedicated team approach¡¨ and the trial run of ¡§centralisation of premium assessments¡¨ are encouraging. Pending a detailed evaluation of these trial schemes in April 2009, the experiences of the DLO/HKW&S in implementing the trial schemes are being shared with the other 11 District Lands Offices and some of the practices adopted in the trial schemes are also being implemented in the other 11 District Lands Offices;
(b) The PCTF welcomes the Government¡¦s impending promulgation of a Joint Practice Note, which sets out the practices adopted by the Buildings Department, LandsD and the Planning Department in respect of eight aligned development control parameters such as public transport terminus, public/private car park, etc. that are commonly encountered in the development process;
(c) The Food Business Task Force is following up the trade¡¦s concerns about the technical feasibility of "smoking rooms", the Trade Effluent Surcharge Scheme, and additional licence conditions for conducting temporary or occasional hot-pot or food warming activities;
(d) As recommended by the Retail Task Force (RTF) and the trade, the Department of Health (DH) has issued relevant guidance notes on classification of products as ¡§pharmaceutical products¡¨ to help the trade decide if a product is subject to registration under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance. The DH has also issued guidance notes regarding the relaxations on the registration requirements of beauty/health food products. The Government has also amended the relevant regulation to relax regulatory control on the sale of certain products for nicotine replacement therapy by pharmacies and medicine companies without requiring the presence or supervision of registered pharmacists;
(e) The RTF will continue to facilitate communication between the DH and the trade in addressing issues in connection with the regulatory control of proprietary Chinese medicine; and
(f) Regarding the nutrition labelling scheme for pre-packaged food in Hong Kong, the committee was briefed on key measures implemented/being planned by the Government to help the trade to understand and comply with the new requirements. The committee encouraged the Government to continue to do its utmost in helping the trade comply with the labelling requirements through various channels.
Papers for the committee meeting will be uploaded onto the Internet (http://www.gov.hk/en/business/supportenterprises/bf/advisory/index.htm) for access by the public.
Ends/Thursday, November 13, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:52
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