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Following is the transcript (English portion) of a media session by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, after his visit today (July 7) to a personal health and beauty store in Causeway Bay to observe the first day of the Environmental Levy Scheme on Plastic Shopping Bags:
Reporter: Mr Yau, how would you further enhance awareness to the public?
Secretary for the Environment: This morning¡¦s situation is a very good start. Things seem to be going very smoothly. Seven or eight out of 10 people walking into supermarkets brought their own shopping bags, so they have saved 50 cents and contributed to the environment. Of course, this is just the beginning of a new campaign whereby people would vote by their action in supporting this. We need to do more on education to reach out to different groups. For instance, domestic helpers would help a lot of us in doing shopping. We have issued a magnet sticker whereby we have different languages, Indonesian, Thai and Filipino, in addition to Chinese and English. So we hope the message would also be brought home to different people, to different walks of life, so that this would be a genuine community move to a greener Hong Kong.
Reporter: Are you worried that prepackaged products will increase?
Secretary for the Environment: I have recently issued verbal advice to the manufacturers. If the prepackaging is intended to circumvent the levy, I think it will be counter-productive because consumers are now willing to contribute to this green movement by bringing their own bags. Don¡¦t upset or undermine the plan. So far, in talking to shopkeepers this morning, we do not notice any major upsurge. Some prepackaging has existed for a while, so I think with some gentle reminders, with increased consumer consciousness, I hope this will be the best effort in tackling any circumvention.
(Please refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:29
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