Task Force Reviews Government Procurement Process Amid Red Flags and Improvement Measures

SFST speaks after first meeting of Task Force on Review of Government Procurement Regime (with video)

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui; the Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Treasury), Mr Andrew Lai; and the Director of Government Logistics, Mr Carlson Chan, met the media after the first meeting of the Task Force on Review of Government Procurement Regime today (August 21). Following are the remarks:

Reporter: Secretary, first of all, looking back at the tendering process so far, can you tell us what specific red flags do you think were missed and how many of those have been caught earlier? And you mentioned that there will be some improvement measures to be carried out in the mid-term of the review by the Task Force. Can you specify what do you mean by mid-term and what kind of measures will be carried out? And finally, you mentioned that the GLD is the primary party to be held responsible for the matter. Have any officials in the department been carried out any sort of disciplinary action?

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury: That's exactly the purpose of my chairing the task force this morning, to make reference to this incident and to identify any systemic issues that we need to deal with at the system and also at the process level. In particular, as you highlighted in your second question, we will look at areas like in terms of the due diligence required and the issues on the contract management and also quality control. These are the relevant aspects that will be covered in our interim result, because what we would expect is that before we make the final announcement, we hopefully would like to get the result earlier than the three months that we said earlier.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)

Source: AI-found images

Incoming passenger convicted and jailed for possession of duty-not-paid cigarettes

An incoming passenger was sentenced to 29 days of imprisonment by the Fanling Magistrates' Courts today (May 23) for possessing duty-not-paid cigarettes and failing to declare them to Customs officers, in contravention of Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO).

Customs officers intercepted the incoming 58-year-old male passenger at the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point yesterday (May 22) and seized 1 981 sticks of duty-not-paid cigarettes from him. The estimated market value of the seized cigarettes was about $8,100, and the duty potential was about $6,500. He was subsequently arrested.

Customs welcomes the sentence, noting that even a first-time offender may still be imprisoned. The custodial sentence has imposed a considerable deterrent effect and reflects the seriousness of the offences. Members of the public should not defy the law.

Customs reminds members of the public that under the DCO, cigarettes are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Incoming passenger convicted and jailed for possession of duty-not-paid cigarettes Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases