Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Pui-kong and a reply by the Acting Secretary for Health, Dr Cecilia Fan, in the Legislative Council today (May 20):
Question:
(i) Upstream interception of smuggling: The C&ED combats smuggling via cargo and postal parcels through maintaining intelligence exchange with the Mainland law enforcement agencies and overseas law enforcement agencies. Currently, penalties for duty-not-paid cigarettes have been significantly increased. The number of large-scale cigarette smuggling cases detected by the C&ED rose from 40 in 2024 to 126 in 2025. The C&ED has strengthened enforcement at control points, with a real-time notification mechanism established with the Mainland to stop passengers from bringing in excessive duty-free cigarettes using the “ant-moving-home” tactic. Penalties for offences of failing to declare to Customs Officers compoundable have been increased; the number of cases by imposing a penalty on offences compoundable intercepted by the C&ED at control points rose from 19 071 in 2024 to 26 982 in 2025. The rise in the number of cases involving the seizure of illicit cigarettes reflects the effectiveness of the C&ED’s enhanced efforts in combating illicit cigarettes, and the success of these enforcement strategies does not imply that the scale of illicit cigarette activities has expanded. To further combat illicit cigarettes, the Government will fully implement the Duty Stamp System by December 2027, requiring duty-paid cigarette packs to be affixed with stamps so that law enforcement officers and the public can clearly distinguish between duty-paid and duty-not-paid cigarettes.