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Message from Legislative Councillor Functional Constituency Representative for Wholesale & Retail

立法會議員之話 批發及零售界功能組別代表

Hon. Vincent Fang, SBS, JP

方剛先生

4月17日的立法會會議，突然在原定休會時間前「流 會」，即該日會議結束之時，也意味着《2013年進 出口（一般）（修訂）規例》或俗稱「禁奶令」的修 訂期限屆滿。無論是政府就嬰幼兒「配方粉」提出的 修訂，抑或包括本人在內的多位立法會議員提出的廢 除或加入日落條款等修正案，全都失去討論和投票的 機會！換言之，3月1日生效的規例原文會繼續執行。 相信這出乎食物及衞生局（食衞局）和立法會絕大部 份議員的意料之外！

如今，有什麼辦法去「對付」這條既違反香港自由貿 易精神、打擊零售業，又對攜帶不同種類奶粉出境的 人士構成疑慮和激化中港矛盾的不合理法例呢？按 立法程序，政府當局可以再向立法會提交新修訂的法 例，或由議員提出私人草案。不過，食衞局局長高永文 醫生已經表示不會再提交修正案，而是會透過強化執 法指引，包括向海關執法人員發出受限制出境的奶粉 清單，希望減少「出錯」。至於私人草案，不但需要 經過整個立法程序，包括成立法案委員會討論，而且 獲通過的機會極低，是得不償失的做法。

雖然政府的立場是規例必須執行最少一年，以觀察嬰 幼兒配方粉的供應鏈是否完善，但最近口風已經略為 軟化，表示會在半年後檢討。唯等到9月才檢討，恐 怕規例即使真的會「日落」，也要等到10月黃金周之 後了！屆時，相信奶粉零售商都已經重創了，甚至會 出現倒閉潮！

而且，是次事件令過去10年以高消費力支持香港零售 業擴張的地自由行旅客，尤其是來自珠三角地區的居 民，對香港甚為不滿。多位內地記者對我說，內地許 多博客甚至呼籲當地人「罷」來港旅遊和購物，反正 向中國旅客開放自由行的國家多的是。因此，問題若 不迅速解決的話，會為香港零售業的前景，以至香港 的旅遊業，帶來極大的隱憂。

The Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting on 17 April, 2013 was abruptly cut short resulting in the green light given to the Import and Expor t (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2013 or the so called infant milk formula export restrictions. This is unfortunate as neither the Government nor legislators like myself had any chance to introduce amendments to the numerous provisions such as the introduction of a sunset clause! In other words, the Regulation, which was scheduled to take effect on 1 March, 2013, will continue to be valid. This unexpected development has caught the surprise of both the Food and Health Bureau and most legislators.

How are we going to tackle a regulation that contravenes our long standing free trade principle, hurts the retail trade, creates concerns amongst anyone who carries formula milk products out of Hong Kong and worsens the already strained relations between Mainlanders and Hong Kong residents? According to legislative process, the Government may table an amended version of the Regulation or legislators can table a private member's bill. However, the Secretary for Food and Health Dr. Ko Wing-man has already made it clear that the Government would not put forth another version of the Regulation but would instead refine the various implementation details including the preparation of a list of infant formula products which are subject to export regulation in a bid to minimize "mistakes" made by Customs and Excise officers at the borders. As for private member's bill, the process would be tedious involving the establishment of a Bills Committee and since the chance of such a bill being passed in LegCo is extremely small, it would not be worth the efforts.

Although the Government position is that the Regulation will be reviewed a year after implementation to determine whether the supply chain has improved, recent indications were that the review would be undertaken sooner – probably six months after implementation. However even if this is the policy, the Regulation will only be reviewed in September and any sunset clause will only be effective after the National Day golden week in October by which time our retail trade would have been so seriously impacted that some might be driven out of business altogether.

The export restrictions have also upset many of the high value tourists from the Mainland in particular those coming from the Pearl River Delta region. A number of Mainland journalists have told me that bloggers in the Mainland have called upon their fellow citizens to boycott Hong Kong and refrain from visiting and shopping here. After all, there are many other countries that welcome individual Mainland tourists. If the Hong Kong Government does not resolve the matter quickly, the outlook of the retail sector and the tourism trade will be very bleak indeed.

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