Public Health and Municipal Services (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 to come into effect on August 17
The Public Health and Municipal Services (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 was gazetted on May 16 and will come into effect on August 17.
The Amendment Ordinance strengthens the statutory power of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) to deal with various environmental hygiene problems, enabling it to handle problems such as water seepage in buildings, water dripping from air-conditioners, the occupation of public places by miscellaneous articles, and shopfront extension more effectively.
A spokesman for the Environment and Ecology Bureau said, "The Government is committed to enhancing Hong Kong's environmental hygiene and cityscape. The Amendment Ordinance, along with various administrative measures and public education, can continuously improve Hong Kong'senvironmental hygiene, consolidate the achievements made so far and create a more liveable environment in response to the expectations of the public.
"In the past three months, the FEHD has enhanced publicity and education to raise the awareness of members of the public and relevant sectors of the new legal requirement and arrangements as well as to enhance their law-abiding awareness."
The Amendment Ordinance extends the hours during which public officers are allowed to enter premises to deal with public health nuisances such as water seepage in buildings and water dripping from air-conditioners to 7am to 10pm. Without reasonable excuse, failing to allow a public officer to enter the premises within 14 days after the issuance or attachment of the Notice of Intended Entry by the FEHD is an offence that may be liable to a maximum penalty of a fine at level 2 ($5,000).
When dealing with vermin problems in private premises, according to the Amendment Ordinance, the FEHD can issue a Notice of Elimination of Vermin to a person responsible for the management of the premises (e.g. owners' corporations and property management companies) regarding the common parts of the premises, allowing timely handling of vermin in common parts of a building. The maximum penalty for non-compliance with a Notice of Elimination of Vermin will be raised from the current fine at level 2 ($5,000) and a daily fine of $100, to level 4 ($25,000) and a daily fine of $450. In cases where the FEHD has conducted vermin disinfestation work for infested premises without serving a Notice of Elimination of Vermin, the department may recover the expense incurred from the responsible person of the concerned premises. Apart from that, the Amendment Ordinance has raised the maximum penalty from the existing fine at level 1 ($2,000) to a fine at level 2 ($5,000) for tampering with devices set up by the FEHD to destroy and remove vermin; the Amendment Ordinance has also stipulated that the FEHD can place devices and equipment in premises infested with vermin for conducting tests or assessing vermin proliferation. It will be an offence to tamper with such devices and equipment subject to a maximum penalty of a fine at level 2 ($5,000).
Regarding the occupation of public places by miscellaneous articles causing obstruction to scavenging operations, the Amendment Ordinance shortens the removal time specified on the Notice to Remove Obstruction to a period of not less than 30 minutes. The FEHD can exercise discretion by setting a reasonably longer time according to the actual circumstances. The maximum penalty for obstruction to scavenging operations will be raised from a fine at level 2 ($5,000) and a daily fine of $50 to level 3 ($10,000) and a daily fine of $300.
The Amendment Ordinance also empowers enforcement officers to remove and dispose of display equipment like easy-mount frames, apart from bills or posters. The maximum penalty for illegal display or affixation of bills or posters has also been raised from a fine at level 3 ($10,000) and a daily fine of $300 to level 4 ($25,000) and a daily fine of $450.
Furthermore, the Amendment Ordinance will introduce an offence targeting shopfront extension in the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), empowering the FEHD to remove the obstructing articles constituting unlawful shopfront extension without the need to rely on the power of the Hong Kong Police Force to enhance enforcement efficiency. In cases where no claim is made for the article not of a perishable nature within seven days after the date of the exercise of the power of removal, or within 48 hours for the article of perishable nature, the article will be forfeited. The law enforcement criteria and penalty (maximum penalty of a fine at level 4 ($25,000) and three months' imprisonment) for the offence of shopfront extension remain unchanged. The FEHD can issue fixed penalty notices of $6,000 to offenders.
In light of the related amendments, the Secretary for Environment and Ecology today (August 15) amended the format of the penalty notice in accordance with Section 17A of the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness and Obstruction) Ordinance (Cap. 570), adding the offence of shopfront extension of Cap. 132 accordingly. Specified forms of the concerned penalty notices are gazetted today and will come into effect on the same day as the Amendment Ordinance on August 17.
The FEHD has presented on its webpage the information of the Amendment Ordinance for public reference.
Source: AI-found images
