A 06/07-35

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 4 July 2007 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments L.N. No.
1.Waste Disposal (Charges for Disposal of Chemical Waste) (Amendment) Regulation 2007133/2007
2.Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Replacement of Schedule 6) Order 2007134/2007
3.Designation of Museum (Fireboat Alexander Grantham Exhibition Gallery) Order135/2007
4.Official Languages (Alteration of Text under Section 4D) (Miscellaneous) Order 2007136/2007
5.Closed Area (Hong Kong Section of the Shenzhen Bay Bridge and Deep Bay Link Portion) Order (Commencement) Notice137/2007
6.Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port Area Ordinance (Commencement) Notice138/2007
7.International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities) (United Nations and Associated Personnel) Order (Commencement) Notice139/2007
8.Fugitive Offenders (Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel) Order (Commencement) Notice140/2007

Other Papers

1.No. 99-Independent Commission Against Corruption
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Annual Report 2006
(to be presented by Hon CHAN Kam-lam, who will address the Council)

2.No. 100-Independent Commission Against Corruption Complaints Committee
Annual Report 2006
(to be presented by Hon Tommy CHEUNG, who will address the Council)

3.No. 101-Sir Robert Black Trust Fund
Annual Report for the year from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

4.No. 102-The Nineteenth Annual Report of The Ombudsman, Hong Kong (June 2007)
(to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration)

5.Report of the Panel on Home Affairs 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon CHOY So-yuk, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

6.Report of the Panel on Financial Affairs 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon CHAN Kam-lam, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

7.Report of the Panel on Welfare Services 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon CHAN Yuen-han, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

8.Report of the Panel on Health Services 2006-2007
(to be presented by Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

9.Report of the Panel on Environmental Affairs 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon Audrey EU, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

II. Questions

1. Dr Hon Philip WONG to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)in the past five years, of the median incidence age of psychiatric illnesses as well as the respective median and average ages of incidence and ages at death of patients of malignant neoplasm diseases and various chronic diseases (such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, nephrosis and liver disease); and how such figures compare with the relevant figures 10 years ago;

    (b)whether it has examined the relationship between the trend of persons suffering from chronic diseases at a younger age and the environment as well as people's living habits; if it has, of the results; if it has not, how the Government assesses the causes leading to such a phenomenon; and

    (c)whether it has assessed how the above phenomenon has affected Hong Kong's productivity and medical expenditure, and what measures the Government have taken to ameliorate the situation?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

2. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

The Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") issued a circular on 11th June 2007, detailing, among other measures, a more streamlined and simplified licensing process for overseas hedge fund firms wishing to operate in Hong Kong. Given that Hong Kong is the largest hedge fund centre in Asia and that the presence of an active hedge fund industry enhances Hong Kong's position as a leading international financial centre, will the Administration inform this Council of:
    (a)the steps it will take to publicise and promote the SFC's aforesaid initiatives; and

    (b)the other measures it will take to maintain Hong Kong's lead as a hedge fund centre?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

3. Hon Bernard CHAN to ask: (Translation)

It has been learnt that under the existing policy, civil servants and non-civil servants who died while on duty may be buried at the "Gallant Garden" at Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the usage of the various types of earth burial spaces and columbarium niches at the Gallant Garden at present, as well as the percentage of the relevant applications for burial at the Gallant Garden which were approved in the past five years;

    (b)of the criteria for determining whether civil servants and non-civil servants who died while on duty may be buried at the Gallant Garden, and why in the recent two cases involving respectively a civil servant and a staff member of the Hospital Authority who died while on duty, only the former was allowed to be buried at the Gallant Garden, although both of them were commended by their respective supervisors; and

    (c)given that the Government constantly encourages the public to hold environment-friendly memorial ceremonies (such as planting trees at memorial parks, etc) in place of traditional funerals, whether the Government will consider holding similar environment-friendly ceremonies at the Gallant Garden to mourn for civil servants and non-civil servants who died while on duty?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

4. Hon Margaret NG to ask: (Translation)

Early last month, a former Financial Secretary confirmed to the media that in 2002, during his tenure as the Financial Secretary, the top echelon of the Government had studied whether the linked exchange rate system should be abandoned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it intends to investigate if that person has improperly disclosed official secrets; and

    (b)of its policy regarding the breach of the rule of confidentiality by former principal officials?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

5. Hon Ronny TONG Ka-wah to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of the following in the past five judicial years:
    (a)the number of criminal cases involving family violence which were handled by various levels of courts, and among them, the number of those in which the accused were convicted, as well as the information on the penalty imposed; if the relevant figures and information are not available, of the reasons for that; and

    (b)the number of criminal cases involving family violence which were disposed of by way of offering no evidence against the accused, and the details of such cases, including the number of those in which the accused were required to enter into recognizances to be of good behaviour, and whether the accused's agreement to be bound over was one of the factors for consideration of offering no evidence by the prosecution?
Public Officers to reply :Secretary for Security
Secretary for Labour and Welfare

6. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the thematic report on the household income distribution published by the Census and Statistics Department last month, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the reasons why the authorities have taken into account only three social benefits, namely education, housing and medical benefits, but not other community, recreational and cultural facilities and services which are used by both the rich and the poor, when computing the post-tax post-social transfer Gini Coefficient ("GC");

    (b)whether it knows the changes in the GCs of France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan over the past decade, and of the reasons why the aforesaid report did not compare the GCs of Hong Kong with those of these developed economies; and

    (c)as the continuous rise of GCs since 1971 indicates a deteriorating trend of disparity in income and the inadequacies of existing measures in reversing such a trend, whether it has any plans for taking further measures to curb the trend; if it has, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officers to reply :Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*7. Hon Vincent FANG Kang to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the smuggling and sale of duty-not-paid cigarettes (commonly known as "illicit cigarettes"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the quantity of cigarettes consumed in Hong Kong last year and, among them, the respective quantities of duty-paid cigarettes and illicit cigarettes;

    (b)of the places of origin, sales channels and targets, as well as the smuggling channels and trend of the illicit cigarettes seized by the Customs and Excise ("C&E") Department in the past three years; and the latest strategy adopted by the C&E Department to combat illicit cigarettes; and

    (c)of the estimated amount of duty the Government loses each year because of illicit cigarettes and whether, at this stage, it has any plans to revise tobacco duty to combat the problem of illicit cigarettes?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*8. Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit to ask: (Translation)

Since the discovery of a number of high-quality counterfeit $1,000 bank notes purported to be issued by a particular bank in the community a few months ago, many shops have refused to accept such bank notes. Moreover, an increasing number of shops and drivers of public transport carriers have refused to accept 10 cents, 20 cents and 50 cents coins in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it has assessed the prevalence of the aforesaid situation at present, as well as the impact of the situation on currency circulation and people's life; if it has, of the assessment results, and whether it will provide a channel to call in the coins of small denomination such as 10 cents, 20 cents and 50 cents; if it has not, the reasons for that;

    (b)it has considered taking measures, such as enhancing the security features of bank notes as well as publicity and education, to encourage various sectors of the community to accept all legal tender; if it has, of the details of the measures and the implementation schedule; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)it will, by way of legislation, prohibit shops from refusing to take any notes and coins which are legal tender; if it will, of the legislative timetable and the proposed penalty; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary

*9. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

On March 14 this year, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data published an investigation report on the alleged disclosure, by a local e-mail service provider, of the personal data of one of its account subscribers to mainland law enforcement agencies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the Commissioner has pointed out in the investigation report that the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) is unclear in certain aspects, whether the Government will review and amend the Ordinance; if it will, of the legislative timetable; if it will not, the reasons for that, and whether there are other solutions;

    (b)given that Hong Kong companies doing business on the Mainland are required to provide the personal data of their customers at the request lawfully made by mainland law enforcement agencies, and that in doing so, they may contravene the data protection principles stipulated in the aforesaid Ordinance, whether the authorities will discuss with the relevant Mainland government authorities how to resolve the problems arising from the need for Hong Kong companies doing business on the Mainland to comply with the legislation in both places; and

    (c)whether the authorities will provide information and support to the Hong Kong residents who frequently visit the Mainland, so as to help them understand how they can protect their personal privacy when using Internet services on the Mainland?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

*10. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Since 2005, the Hospital Authority ("HA") has implemented the Hospital Authority Drug Formulary ("the Formulary") in public hospitals and clinics. I have learnt that as some drugs in the Formulary have to be purchased by patients at their own expenses, some patients with cancer and rare genetic diseases have not received proper drug treatment because of financial hardship. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the names of the 30 drugs which are most often prescribed to patients by attending doctors but have to be purchased by patients at their own expenses since the implementation of the Formulary by HA, the diseases treated principally by each of these drugs, the dosages normally prescribed by doctors, their retail prices and whether patients may apply to the Samaritan Fund for assistance in meeting the expenses on the drug treatments concerned? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*11. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding smoking in outdoor public places, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows if smoking outside designated no smoking areas (e.g. outside restaurants) has become prevalent since the implementation of the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Ordinance 2006, the locations where the situation is particularly serious, as well as the impact on the health and smoking habits of members of the public (especially the problem of smoking among children); if it knows, of the details; if not, whether it will consider conducting a survey to understand the situation;

    (b)of the number of prosecutions instituted by the Government against smoking in designated no smoking areas of outdoor public places since 1 January this year; whether there are difficulties in implementing the smoking ban in such places; if so, of the details and locations where the implementation of such a ban is particularly difficult, as well as the measures taken by the Government to resolve the difficulties; and

    (c)whether it will consider amending the legislation to designate areas within 15 metres from the entrance to indoor designated no smoking areas (e.g. shopping arcades) as no smoking areas; if it will not, of the reasons for that, as well as how it protects the public from exposure to heavy second-hand smoke before they enter the premises concerned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*12. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Insurance Authority introduced in the middle of last year a new category of insurance agents, namely "travel insurance agents". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the current number of people who have registered as travel insurance agents (but not as agents for other categories of insurance); and

    (b)the current number of people who have passed the travel insurance agent examination but have not registered as the agents concerned because they fail to provide the required proof of academic qualification; and of the measures to assist them in registering as such agents, for example, whether it will consider waiving the academic requirement for those who have certain work experience?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*13. Hon TAM Heung-man to ask: (Translation)

I have received complaints that some owners of commercial buildings have specified in the tenancy agreements that the tenants must employ designated contractors for fitting-out and building services works. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of complaints received by the relevant government departments and the Consumer Council in the past three years about owners' stipulating "bundled" lease terms similar to that stated above, and the outcome of the follow-up to these complaints;

    (b)whether it has assessed if the owners' stipulation of such "bundled" lease terms is an anti-competitive practice; if it has and the assessment result is in the affirmative, whether, before a fair competition law is enacted, the Government has formulated measures to deal with such cases; if it has, of the details of such measures; if it has not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it will bring "bundled" lease terms within the ambit of the fair competition law being drafted; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply :Secretary for Development
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)

*14. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

I have received complaints that although the names of some public housing estate maintenance or improvement works contractors have been removed from the Counterparty List of the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") because of their poor performance, they can continue to carry out the works concerned after the removal of their names from the List because their contracts with HA have not yet expired. As such contractors are no longer eligible to bid for contracts offered by HA, there are problems of works being delayed or poorly carried out, which adversely affect the residents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of contractors who were no longer eligible to bid for the work projects of HA because their names had been removed from HA's relevant List in the past three years, and the reasons for the removal of their names from the List; and

    (b)whether it will review and revise the existing system so that after the contractors have been removed from the List, their contracts can be terminated immediately, or other contractors or HA may follow up the projects concerned to ensure that such projects can be completed smoothly, in order to protect the interests of the residents; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*15. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the Lands Department's Consent Scheme on the sale of uncompleted first-hand residential units, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau ("HPLB") advised in a paper provided to the Panel on Housing of this Council in March this year that it would explore the feasibility of adopting the revised code of measurement of saleable area in the Consent Scheme, whether HPLB has decided to revise the Consent Scheme; if so, of the details of the main scope and provisions relating to consumer protection in the revised Consent Scheme, and whether the Government has reviewed how such provisions can accord proper protection to consumers; if a review has been conducted, of the results; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)of the procedures to be followed by the Government, upon receipt of developers' applications for the sale of uncompleted first-hand residential units, to ensure that developers will accurately provide correct and complete information to prospective buyers during the sale of such units;

    (c)whether it knows if the authorities concerned have checked the information contained in the sales brochures provided by developers on uncompleted first-hand residential units and visited the relevant sales sites for inspection, so as to ensure that developers provided the same property sales information to the authorities concerned and to the consumers; if so, of the number, locations and results of such spot checks conducted by the authorities concerned in the past five years; and

    (d)of the number of complaints received from the public by the authorities concerned in the past five years about developers providing incorrect or incomplete information in the sales brochures on uncompleted first-hand residential units, as well as the subject matters and scope of such complaints?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*16. Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the hygiene conditions of the central air-conditioning systems in games hall complexes and public libraries under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the frequency for cleaning the central air-conditioning systems (including the ventilation ducts) in the aforesaid premises and the areas covered, as well as the duration of the temporary closure of the premises for cleaning; the schedule for cleaning the ventilation ducts in premises which are open at all times (such as the ticketing concourse of the Hong Kong Coliseum);

    (b)whether it has monitored the hygiene conditions of the central air-conditioning systems in the aforesaid premises (such as by conducting sample tests); if it has, of the details, and the locations at which the samples for tests are taken and the items tested; and

    (c)given that a group of about 40 athletes of the Chinese National Team were taken ill because of the unhygienic conditions of the central air-conditioning system in an indoor training centre in Beijing in January this year, whether it has, by making reference to the "Regulations on Central Air-conditioning Ventilation Systems in Public Premises" implemented by the Mainland's Ministry of Health with effect from 1 March 2006, drawn up relevant legislation to stipulate the annual frequency of inspection and replacement of the parts and components of the central air-conditioning systems in indoor premises; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*17. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

With regard to food safety, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the food safety legislation being drafted by the Government will not be introduced into this Council until the 2008-2009 session, whether the Government will formulate interim measures to step up efforts to curb the importation of aquatic products, vegetables and fruits which do not comply with the relevant mainland standards or which do not carry hygiene certifications issued by the relevant mainland authorities and, in the event of food safety incidents, to trace the sources of the food concerned more expeditiously; and

    (b)given that the Government is drawing up legislation on regulation of pesticide levels in food, which will be both suitable for Hong Kong and in line with international standards, how the authorities will determine the relevant standards in respect of vegetables and fruits for which the Codex Alimentarius Commission has not prescribed the maximum residue limits of pesticides?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*18. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that tickets for activities held at venues under the Home Affairs Department or the Leisure and Cultural Services Department have recently been scalped in large volumes. As these venues are exempted from the requirement for licenses for places of public entertainment, they are not subject to regulation by the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance (Cap. 172). The Police can take law enforcement actions only under the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)in the past two years, of the respective numbers of persons prosecuted by the Police under the Summary Offences Ordinance for scalping tickets for activities held at venues under the above two departments, as well as the number of convictions involving scalping tickets for activities held at venues other than those under the above two departments; and

    (b)of the existing measures to combat the scalping of tickets for activities held at venues under the above two departments, and whether it will consider extending the scope of application of the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance to cover such venues?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*19. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

The hawker permitted area ("HPA") located at Tong Choi Street (commonly known as "Women's Street") in Mongkok is a popular tourist attraction. However, some tourists say that the place is not only overcrowded but also stifling, and the shopping environment there is unsatisfactory. Some residents also complain that large quantities of different objects are often piled up on the pavements on both sides of the HPA, and the frames of the stalls are untidy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of stalls planned for the HPA, with their distribution shown on a sketch map;

    (b)whether each stall in the HPA is required to be operated by a holder of the relevant hawker licence, and of the measures taken to ensure that stalls are operated by the licence holders; whether the relevant authorities have ever found that the stalls in the HPA were operated by non-licensees, and how such cases were dealt with;

    (c)of the change in the number of stalls in the HPA since its establishment;

    (d)of the respective numbers of hawker licences which have been surrendered by stall owners on their own initiatives and cancelled by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") for various reasons since the establishment of the HPA;

    (e)of the number of complaints received in the past three years by FEHD about the management problem of the HPA, the number of substantiated complaints among them, and the penalty imposed on the stall owners concerned (if applicable), with the figures broken down by the subject of complaints; and

    (f)whether there are plans to improve the shopping environment of the HPA, such as by restructuring the locations of the stalls?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*20. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)

I have learnt that some large cruise ships, instead of using the electricity supplied by local power companies, burned heavy oils to generate electricity for facilities on board when berthed in Hong Kong, hence emitting black smoke continuously and polluting the air. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of complaints received by the Government in the past three years about pollutant emissions from cruise ships;

    (b)whether it knows the number of cruise ships that berthed in Hong Kong last year and their total berthing time; and how such figures compare with the relevant estimated figures upon the commissioning of the cruise terminal which is under planning; and the average level of pollutant emissions per hour from such cruise ships when they berthed in Hong Kong, including the types and amount of pollutants;

    (c)whether the pollutant emission level of cruise ships within Hong Kong territory is subject to regulation by the "International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto" and the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) Regulation which is being drafted; if so, of the details, and whether the situation is regularly monitored by the Environmental Protection Department; if there is monitoring, of the results; if the emission level is not subject to regulation, the reasons for that; and

    (d)whether it will strengthen control on pollutant emissions from cruise ships; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*For written reply.

III. Bills

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

Supplementary Appropriation (2006-2007) Bill :Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

IV. Members' Bills

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Declaration of Morningside College and S. H. Ho College as Constituent Colleges) Bill :Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong

V. Members' Motions

  1. Strengthening the regulation of unscrupulous business practices in pay television, telecommunications and internet services

    Dr Hon YEUNG Sum: (Translation)

    That, as the complaints about unscrupulous business practices in pay television, telecommunications and internet services have been on the rise in recent years, this Council urges the Government to review the existing mechanism, strengthen the regulation of the business practices of providers of such services, examine the extension of section 7M of the Telecommunications Ordinance, which regulates misleading or deceptive conduct of telecommunications operators, to cover pay television, and introduce a cooling-off period and standard terms in the contracts, so as to safeguard the rights and interests of consumers.

    Amendments to motion
    (i)Hon WONG Kwok-hing: (Translation)

    To add "there are many loopholes in the operation and sales practices of telecommunications service providers," after "That, as"; to add "and such complaints from the public are often not followed up effectively by government departments," after "in recent years,"; to add "stipulate corresponding penalties" after "to cover pay television,"; and to add "; furthermore, as the Hong Kong Housing Authority has signed agreements with pay television operators, these operators can enter the buildings to set up and maintain communal aerial systems and can deploy front-line promoters to approach the residents to sell other various commercial services, using the provision of exclusive maintenance and supply services as a selling point and adopting unscrupulous means to entice or mislead the residents into signing an agreement with them, causing great disturbance to the residents; in this connection, the Government must adopt measures to combat such sales malpractices, take the initiative to inform public rental housing tenants of the rights and responsibilities of the operators and, when the operators resort to malpractices or malpractices are reported by residents, take immediate action to investigate the matter and issue warning to and penalize the operators concerned; the Government must also review the problem of inequity in accessing system information by consumers and the telecommunications service providers, whereby consumers have no means or right to obtain true and accurate information about the systems that they are using and can only pay the fees according to the volume, system and time slots of their calls shown on the records provided unilaterally by the service providers, and in case of queries about such information, the decision of the service providers prevails and there is no channel for the consumers to dispute or verify; to this end, the Government should expeditiously study how to ensure that consumers have the rights to know, choose, verify, appeal and claim for compensation in the provision of telecommunications services (including pay television, local and cross-boundary telecommunications and internet services)" after "in the contracts".

    (ii)Hon TSANG Yok-sing: (Translation)

    To add ", a procedure for contract verification" after "a cooling-off period".

    Public Officer to attend :Secretary for Development
    (in the absence of Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)

  2. Developing environmental industries to create job opportunities

    Hon KWONG Chi-kin: (Translation)

    That, as the increasing amount of waste in Hong Kong has exerted heavy pressure on landfills and the over-exploitation of global resources has led to tight supply of certain resources, such objective conditions have created opportunities for the development of environmental industries; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to formulate a comprehensive policy on environmental industries, which includes:

    (a)expeditiously implementing the Producer Responsibility Scheme to develop the work processes and economic activities relating to the recovery, disassembling, and recycling and reuse of resources;

    (b)strengthening publicity and education to enhance public awareness of waste separation, so as to increase the types and amount of recovered waste;

    (c)comprehensively implementing separation and recovery of wet and dry waste so as to pave the way for the recycling and reuse of commercial and domestic food waste; for example, the Government procures fertilizers converted from locally recovered food waste for use on plants grown in gardens and on roadsides;

    (d)retaining and setting up recovery stations and complementary facilities for wet and dry waste in various districts to facilitate the waste collectors' midway collection, sorting and transportation of waste;

    (e)formulating the Government's green procurement policy and requiring all departments and contractors to comply with it, so as to provide a steady outlet for green products and services; and implementing a green certification system for such products and services to facilitate the Government, private organizations and the public to identify those green products and services that meet the certification requirements when making procurement;

    (f)subsidizing the research and development of environmental industries, upgrading the technology, as well as improving the production environment of such industries, and building up a professional image for the industries, so as to attract more people to take up the related work; and

    (g)assisting social enterprises to participate in those environmental industries with prospects,

    thereby promoting the economic development of environmental industries and creating related job opportunities.

    Amendments to motion
    (i)Hon CHOY So-yuk: (Translation)

    To add "the economic activities of Hong Kong are getting busier by the day and its population keeps growing, and" after "That, as"; to add "generated" after "amount of waste"; to add "and trades" after "development of environmental industries"; to add "and trades" after "comprehensive policy on environmental industries"; to add "and principles such as 'polluter-pays' to reduce waste generation and increase incentive to recover waste and, at the same time, studying the feasibility of restricting the disposal of toxic waste in landfills, so as" after "Producer Responsibility Scheme"; to add "the Source Separation of Domestic Waste Programme as well as" after "comprehensively implementing"; to add "as well as separation" after "recovery stations"; to delete "and" after "green procurement policy" and substitute with ","; to add "and strongly urging public and private organizations to develop green procurement guidelines" after "to comply with it"; to add "and labelling" after "green certification"; to add "as well as establishing a database" after "products and services"; to add "expediting the tendering exercise for the remaining lots in Phase I of the EcoPark and expeditiously drawing up a timetable for the granting of lots in Phase II in order to develop high value-added environmental industries;" after "(f)"; to delete "and" after "related work;" and substitute with "(g) reviewing the existing legislation regulating environmental industries and trades and actively studying the feasibility of implementing a licensing regime for certain environmental industries and trades, in order to enable a healthy development of such enterprises and, at the same time, avoid causing unnecessary damage to the natural environment and nuisances to the residents in the vicinity; and"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(h)"; to add "and trades" after "participate in those environmental industries"; and to add "and trades" after "promoting the economic development of environmental industries".

    (ii)Hon Jeffrey LAM Kin-fung: (Translation)

    To add "in recent years" after "Hong Kong"; to add "(e) expediting the vetting and approval work of the tendering of the EcoPark to facilitate the development of recycling industries and expeditiously taking forward Phase II of the EcoPark development plan; (f) establishing a high-level inter-departmental industries facilitation council to formulate more effective strategies to support environmental recovery industries;" after "transportation of waste;"; to delete "(e) formulating the Government's" before "green procurement policy" and substitute with "(g) implementing a"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete "social" after "assisting" and substitute with "small and medium"; and to add ", and allowing social enterprises to join in, on the premise that they do not compete with the private sector for profits" after "those environmental industries with prospects".

    (iii)Hon Audrey EU: (Translation)

    To add "(e) establishing a licensing regime for waste collectors in order to upgrade the quality of the recovery trade;" after "transportation of waste;"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(g)"; and to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(h)".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for the Environment

Clerk to the Legislative Council