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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mrs Regina Ip, in the Legislative Council today (November 28):
Question:
It was reported that on November 5 this year, a passenger on a transit flight via Hong Kong successfully passed through the security screening and boarded an aircraft with 13 live birds hidden in his hand baggage. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details of the incident and whether or not the incident involved dereliction of duty on the part of anybody; if so, of the details;
(b) of the current respective procedures adopted by the Customs and Excise Department and airline operators for screening passengers' hand and check-in baggage; whether the hand baggage of transit passengers is subject to screening; if so, of the relevant procedures;
(c) whether there have been cases in the past three years in which passengers were found carrying prohibited articles just before the aircraft was about to take off; if so, of the number of such cases and their details, including the articles involved and the reasons for the security screening's failure to intercept such passengers; and
(d) of the measures in place to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) On November 5 this year, a male transit passenger arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) from Fuzhou, China, on Dragonair flight KA661, carrying with him 13 individually caged birds (Hwamei). Some cages were wrapped up in newspapers and all cages placed inside two big plastic bags.
After arrival, he proceeded to a transfer point to subject himself to the required security screening prior to departure. At the transfer point, he put his hand baggage and the big plastic bags with the birds inside into the x-ray machine. The image shown up on the screen suggested the contents to be organic substances with no indication of any restricted article or animal. As no restricted article was detected on him or in his accompanied belongings, the passenger was allowed to proceed to the departure level. He subsequently boarded Cathay Pacific flight CX888 to New York, USA.
Prior to the departure of the aircraft, the airline staff informed the Aviation Security Co. Ltd. (AVSECO) that one of their passengers was found in possession of 13 birds on board the flight. Subsequently officers from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) were called to attend the scene. As the passenger could not present a valid Health Certificate for the birds for inspection, the birds were seized for a breach of Regulation 7A of the Public Health (Animals and Birds) Regulations (Cap 139A).
This incident did not involve dereliction of duty on the part of the security staff. The objective of performing security screening for all departure and transit passengers is to safeguard international civil aviation operations against acts of unlawful interference. To achieve this, AVSECO is tasked to provide security screening to a standard sufficient to detect a restricted article as defined by the Aviation Security Ordinance (Cap. 494). Animals - birds in this case - are however not considered restricted articles in the context of aviation security. Moreover, the security screening equipment at the airport is primarily designed for the detection of items that might compromise aviation security, such as explosive devices, arms and weapons.
(b) The screening of hand and check-in baggage of all departure and transit passengers is performed by AVSECO on behalf of the airline operators, rather than the Customs and Excise Department. All hand baggage is x-ray screened, and a secondary search of the hand baggage is conducted if it is found suspicious, or if its contents cannot be identified and cleared by x-ray examination. All check-in baggage is screened by an automated high technology detection system with the primary objective of detecting explosives. All passengers are required to go through the archway metal detector, and a secondary search is conducted if the passenger alarms the metal detector, or is found suspicious.
At any of the HKIA security screening points, should a passenger be found to be carrying animals, AVSECO will inform the airline concerned. If the passenger concerned is a departing passenger, the airline will decide if carriage of the animals is to be allowed having regard to the condition of carriage and compliance with any relevant regulations of the country of destination. The policy for carriage of animals into the cabin of an aircraft varies with individual airlines. If any transit or arriving passengers are found to be carrying animals, AVSECO will inform the airline concerned which will then inform AFCD staff. If these passengers do not possess the relevant documents for bringing the animals into Hong Kong, the animals may be held or confiscated by AFCD as appropriate. In addition, AVSECO will inform AFCD staff at the airport if it detects an animal which is suspected to be an endangered species and protected under the Animals and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) Ordinance (Cap. 187).
(c) This case does not involve the carrying into an aircraft articles which are prohibited for the purpose of aviation security. There has not been any case in which passengers were found carrying prohibited articles just before the aircraft was about to take off since the opening of the HKIA at Chek Lap Kok in 1998.
(d) As mentioned above, the security screening equipment at departure and transit points of the airport is primarily designed for the detection of items that might compromise aviation security, such as explosive devices, arms and weapons. Nevertheless, under normal circumstances, carriage of animals could be easily detected by security personnel. This incident is an isolated case. Although the possibility of failure to detect animals cannot be ruled out, the risk presented is low and the current security arrangements are considered appropriate.
End/Wednesday, November 28, 2001
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