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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, on plastic shopping bag charging after attending a public event today (May 6):
Reporter: Mr Wong, could you briefly introduce the five cases of fixed penalty notices (on plastic shopping bag charging), and which relate to what industries?
Secretary for the Environment: In the first five days of May, we are having the enforcement of law without prior verbal warning. There are five cases so far, mostly are about non-foodstuff retail activities covering some construction-related retail shops. One is at a pharmacy. The other is at a piano training centre. Last but not the least is about a dentist clinic. The law is very clear that those selling non-foodstuff should obey the shopping bag charging requirement. To add another case is a grocery or store selling airtight foodstuff that should not be exempted. So, the law is clear and I am here to appeal to retailers to follow the requirement.
Reporter: Mr Wong, how would you comment on the scheme's effectiveness? And I would like to know what is the new inspection method to be taken and any difficulties faced by the inspectors.
Secretary for the Environment: My understanding is that so far the education publicity and enforcement is positive. Compared with the arrangement last month, the (number) of cases has been decreasing. Last month, we issued warnings first. On average, there were two to three cases per day. But now in May, we are having prosecutions without prior warnings and the average is one (case) per day. It is a good signal that people are starting to adapt to the new requirement, both at the retail aspect and consumer aspect. Here, I advocate BYOB (bring your own bag) for the general public that you should bring your own bag so that we can be more environmental-friendly.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:33
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