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The Food and Health Bureau today (July 13) launched a public consultation on the review of liquor licensing to gauge public views on the regulation of "upstairs bars" and further streamlining of licensing procedures. The consultation exercise will last for two months until September 14.
A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said, "Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. It is not uncommon to find a mixture of uses juxtaposing one another within the same development. In recent years, more bars are moving upstairs to operate in multi-storey buildings which were formerly used for residential and office purposes. These bars are generally referred to as upstairs bars and most of them are located in the Yau Tsim Mong District, Wan Chai District, Central and Western District.
"However, there is growing public concern about crime, nuisance and fire hazard brought about by the proliferation of upstairs bars, particularly in view of the concentration of bars in certain multi-storey buildings."
At present the Liquor Licensing Board, which is the statutory body responsible for considering liquor licence applications, is imposing additional licensing conditions such as capacity limits, restrictions on liquor selling hours and the duty hours of the licensees so as to subject the upstairs bars concerned to additional regulatory measures. However, there are still calls from different sectors to tighten up the control of upstairs bars.
The consultation document sets out more stringent licensing proposals for public discussion. Suggestions include: setting a limit on the number of liquor-licensed premises that may be housed in a multi-storey building; refusing to issue new liquor licences for premises in buildings which are concurrently used for residential purposes; refusing to issue new liquor licences altogether in certain high risk targeted buildings; and applying a discount factor to reduce the maximum capacity currently imposed on the liquor licences of upstairs bars.
"Some in the community are particularly concerned about public safety and nuisance issues arising from liquor-licensed premises, in particular with regard to upstairs bars. However, the liquor business plays an important role in our food, leisure, tourism and entertainment industries," the spokesman said.
"When considering whether or not to tighten the regulation, apart from protecting public safety and minimising nuisance, we must also have regard to the legitimate interests of the trade, and strive to balance the interests of the trade and the neighbouring community."
Accordingly, the consultation document also outlines ways proposed by the trade to further streamline licensing procedures, with a view to lowering their regulatory burden. Proposals include:
* allowing liquor licence applicants to advertise their applications through means other than publishing an advertisement on the newspaper;
* extending the duration of liquor licences to more than one year;
* introducing an optional "reserve licensee" mechanism while maintaining the requirement for a liquor licence to be applied for and held by a natural person; and
* exploring the need for classifying liquor licences by types of liquor sold so as to better manage the risks of different types of liquor-selling premises.
The spokesman said, "We would like to nurture a business-friendly environment for the industry to grow on the one hand, but on the other we need to protect the community from the possible problems that may come with upstairs bars. We hope to collect views from different sectors during the consultation period, and to reach a consensus as to what is most appropriate and acceptable to the community as a whole, so as to take our liquor licensing system forward."
Copies of the consultation document can be downloaded from the website of the Food and Health Bureau (www.fhb.gov.hk), and will be available for collection at district offices. Views and comments should be sent to the Food Branch of the Food and Health Bureau: by post to 20/F, Murray Building, Garden Road, Hong Kong; by email to liquor@fhb.gov.hk; or by fax to 2136 3281, by September 14.
Ends/Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Issued at HKT 15:53
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