*********************
Following is a question by the Hon Kenneth Leung and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (March 25):
Question:
Regarding the current operation of various immigration control points (control points), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the total operational expenses and major categories of expenses of various control points in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by control point;
(2) of the staff establishments of various government departments at various control points in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by control point and department;
(3) of the respective numbers of times of visitors to Hong Kong, Hong Kong residents, as well as passenger and goods vehicles crossing the boundary via various control points in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by control point;
(4) whether the control points have any income (e.g. tax levied on visitors in transit and rents collected from shop operators); if they do, of the income of various control points in each of the past three years (set out the information by control point and source of income) as well as the use of such income;
(5) whether expansion/facility enhancement works are being or will be carried out at various control points; if so, of the details and the estimated expenses of such works; and
(6) whether it has plans to adjust the fees charged by the control points or introduce an arrival tax on visitors in order to increase the income of the control points to subsidise their operational expenses; if it has such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The various parts of the question raised by the Hon Kenneth Leung concern the work of Security Bureau and other bureaux and departments, The Government's consolidated reply is set out below:
(1) and (2) Immigration control, customs clearance as well as quarantine measures at control points are mainly carried out by the Immigration Department, the Customs and Excise Department, the Hong Kong Police Force and the Department of Health. The staff establishment and relevant manpower expenditure of the said departments at various control points in the past three years are set out at Table 1.
As regards other operational expenses relating to operation of control points, they relate to the purview of various departments, the Government does not maintain breakdown of the relevant information.
(3) The passenger and vehicular traffic at various control points in the past three years are set out at Tables 2 and 3 respectively.
(4) The SAR Government currently does not impose departure tax on inbound and outbound passengers at land boundary control points and sea control points. (The embarkation fee, at $11 per passenger, is payable by cross-boundary ferry operators to the Marine Department based on the number of passengers. It is not a type of tax but a fee to recover the costs incurred by the Government in the provision of terminal facilities and related services.) The Air Passenger Departure Tax (APDT), at $120 per passenger, is payable by passengers departing from Hong Kong through the Hong Kong International Airport or the heliport at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal, unless exemption applies, with accordance to the Air Passenger Departure Tax Ordinance (Cap. 140). Details of the APDT collected over the past three years are as follows:
Financial year Total amount of APDT collected
($'000)
-------------- ------------------------------
2,029,188
2012-13
(Actual Revenue)
2013-14 2,244,034
(Actual Revenue)
2014-15 2,313,535
(Revised Estimate)
The Government does not maintain breakdown on other revenue relating to control points. According to the Government's established principles of public finance management, all tax revenue and revenue of government departments are credited to the Government General Revenue Account. The Government will then allocate the resources to its different streams of work and services having regard to the priorities of the time so as to ensure that our work and services can cater for various needs of the community.
(5) The details of expansion or improvement works being undertaken at control points are set out at Table 4.
(6) According to the Government's general finance arrangement, the operational expenses of all departments are to be met with the Government's estimated provisions for the departments concerned under the relevant Head of Expenditures, instead of being subsidised by revenue generated from the operations of the departments. The arrangement is also applicable to the operational expenses of control points. The SAR Government does not have any plans to impose passenger arrival tax.
Ends/Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:26
NNNN
