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Following is a question by Dr Hon David Li and a written reply by the Secretary for the Treasury, Miss Denise Yue, in the Legislative Council today (December 13):

Question :

The Government is arranging to upload the Government Gazette (except Supplement No. 6) on its web-site by the end of this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a) the measures it has taken to inform current subscribers of the availability of the Gazette on the Government web-site; and

(b) the respective numbers of copies for the different parts of the Gazette now printed each week, and the projected numbers in next year; and if the projected numbers of printed copies are not substantially reduced despite the availability of the Internet version, the reasons for that?

Reply :

Madam President,

The uploading of the e-Gazette has been completed on 8 December 2000. The entire Government Gazette, including the Main Gazette and all six supplements, is now available on the Government web-site and can be accessed at http://www.info.gov.hk/pd/egazette.

Since commencement of the phased introduction of the e-Gazette on May 19 this year, we have posted weekly notices in all printed copies of the Gazette and its supplements. The purpose of this is to inform readers and subscribers of the availability of the internet version and the schedule for uploading the different parts of the Gazette to the Government web-site. Upon complete uploading of the Gazette on December 8, we placed advertisements in local newspapers and also issued a press release on the same day to promote public awareness and to encourage access. We shall sustain publicity through notices in the printed Gazette. We shall also remind subscribers of the availability of the e-Gazette upon future expiry of their subscriptions, so that they can decide whether or not to renew their subscriptions.

The Gazette and its supplements are printed and distributed in full sets. In early 2000, about 4,000 copies were printed each week. With the introduction of the e-Gazette this May, the number has dropped to 3,450 in November, or by nearly 15%. We estimate the number to be further reduced by 30%, to about 2,500 next year. We believe that there will continue to be demand for printed copies of the Gazette, e.g. by the legal profession because of the requirement for authenticity of documents in Courts. We shall continue to closely monitor the situation and, as appropriate, adjust the number of copies to be printed.

End/Wednesday, December 13, 2000

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