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Industry News
Background
The Government is committed to improving the ease of doing
business in Hong Kong. As part of its business facilitation efforts,
the Government has set up the Wholesale and Retail Task Force
(WRTF) under the Business Facilitation Advisory Committee (BFAC)
to help remove unnecessary regulatory and procedural barriers of
concern to the wholesale and retail sectors and provide a platform
to facilitate Government-business communication on relevant
regulatory proposals. To keep you updated of the Government's
business facilitation initiatives and relevant business consultations,
the Economic Analysis and Business Facilitation Unit of the
Financial Secretary's Office collaborates with HKRMA to provide
you with regular updates. The last update was made in the Winter
2015 Issue.
Business facilitation initiatives
(1) Hong Kong's Accession to the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-
operation Scheme (PIC/S)
WRTF welcomes the accession which can help sustain a competitive
regulatory environment for the pharmaceutical industry in Hong
Kong. WRTF notes that overall, the transition to PIC/S standards
has been smooth. Local manufacturers also strived to upgrade to
PIC/S standards.
The inspection team under the Department of Health may need
to conduct on-site inspection for imported medicines from non-
PIC/S jurisdictions and the inspection costs have to be recovered
from the importers. WRTF notes that the trade association has
urged their members to explore with their overseas suppliers to
share out the inspection costs. Nevertheless, WRTF still urges
the Government to keep monitoring the situation, especially the
compliance cost implication to SMEs
(2) Regulatory Regime for Store Value Facilities and Retail Payment
Systems
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has briefed WRTF
on the new regulatory regime for Store Value Facilities (SVFs) and
Retail Payment Systems. A one-year transitional period from 13
November 2015 is provided for existing SVF issuers or new market
operators to apply for a licence from HKMA and continue their
operations.
WRTF appreciates the regulatory regime will have knock-on
benefits to the retail industry.
On the enquiry of WRTF, HKMA has clarified that Schedule 8 of the
Payment Systems and Stored Value Facilities Ordinance provides
for certain SVFs to be exempted from the licensing requirements.
For example, a SVF that stores monies to be used to pay through
a communication, digital or IT device for virtual weapons when
playing online games using such a device may come under this
exemption.
As a few banking systems have been hacked recently, WRTF is
concerned about the IT security of SVFs. HKMA has explained
that under the regulatory regime, SVF issuers are required to set
up appropriate arrangements and measures to protect the SVF
schemes against technology risks and payment security risks. For
example, licence applicants are required to appoint independent
consultants to conduct an assessment of six keys areas, including
technology risk management and payment security management,
and licencees are required, inter alia, to conduct penetration tests
and to monitor any dubious transactions.
(3) Corruption Prevention Training Package for the Retail Industry
WRTF appreciates the Independent Commission Against Corruption
for developing the corruption prevention training package for the
retail industry, which is particularly helpful to small retailers as they
may not have the resources and expertise to develop their own.
The training package is available at
/
corruption_prevention_department/pt/pco/index.html#Retail.
Business consultation on regulatory proposal
Regulation of online sale of restricted foods
For food safety reasons, WRTF supports the the introduction of
the new permit for selling restricted foods online. During the
consultation by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
(FEHD), WRTF enquired whether operators without physical
premises could use their residential premises as the business
address for the purpose of applying for the new permit. FEHD has
subsequently promulgated the relevant guidelines which can be
referred to at
new/FoodPermit_online.pdf.
Highlights of the Government’s business facilitation work
and business consultations relevant to the retail sector
利便營商的主要措施及規管建議的諮詢
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