The Government will publish in the Gazette 17 pieces of regulation and one order on September 27, 2019 to give effect to the waiver measures on fees and charges as announced by the Financial Secretary on August 15, 2019 to support businesses (especially small and medium-sized enterprises) under the challenging external and local economic environments. The measures will benefit a wide range of sectors from maritime, logistics, retail, catering, agriculture and fisheries to construction and tourism.
 
     "All these measures will be valid for one year. The majority of them will take effect from October 1, 2019, while the remaining ones will progressively take effect from October 21, 2019, to January 1, 2020, as the relevant departments need more time to roll out these fee waiving initiatives. After the publication in the Gazette, the regulations and the order will be tabled at the next sitting of the Legislative Council for negative vetting," a Government spokesman said.
 
     Details of the fee waiver measures are summarised in the Annex. The estimated revenue forgone arising from these waiver measures amounts to $1,569 million. The proposed fee waiver by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) in respect of the registration of construction workers will also be implemented in this legislative exercise and the estimated revenue forgone for the CIC is about $10 million.

Ends/Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Issued at HKT 12:24

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