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Transcript of remarks by STH
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     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, at a media session after conducting home visits under the "Celebrations for All" project in Central and Western District this afternoon (July 28):
 
Reporter: Mr Chan, right now the Government proposed to apply a full set of Mainland laws in the Mainland Port Area in the West Kowloon terminus. But a lot of legal scholars said that it's actually possible to apply just specific laws such as immigration laws or CIQ laws in the area, so will you consider this proposal? Will you consider negotiating with the Mainland government to change the direction of the proposal right now?
 
Secretary for Transport and Housing: I think we have to appreciate the co-location of immigration, customs and quarantine in the Mainland Port Area in Hong Kong. It's very different from those we mention, for example, like in Canada and the United States, because for those places, they are usually taking care of the entry requirement, clearance for entry, or we call it more technically, the pre-clearance for the entrance. But on the exit, they do nothing about it. In Hong Kong, the arrangement is exactly double because not only when they enter into Hong Kong, they have to have clearance for entry, but when they leave Hong Kong, they also do the exit clearance. The same applies to the Mainland Port Area. That's a very fundamental difference and we have to bear that in mind when comparing two things together. We can't compare an apple with an orange because it would not be a fair comparison. So taking into account of the entry and exit clearance which is rather unique, at least in Asian countries, but more correctly, even if we put it into the context of the global situation, this would be one of the most pioneering approaches. And we have to take that into account as well.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
 
Ends/Friday, July 28, 2017
Issued at HKT 18:55
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