Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     ​A man was sentenced today (May 20) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts to six weeks’ imprisonment for illegally importing 14 200 alternative smoking products. The Department of Health (DH) welcomed the verdict and reminded members of the public and visitors not to bring alternative smoking products such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products or herbal cigarettes into Hong Kong, and not to use any alternative smoking products.

     The Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office (TACO) of the DH was notified by Hong Kong Customs yesterday (May 19) that 14 200 alternative smoking products had been intercepted in the luggage of the aforesaid man arriving from Japan. TACO immediately arrested and prosecuted the individual.

Since the amendments to the Tobacco Control Legislation (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, which conferred arrest powers on TACO inspectors, took effect on September 19, 2025, TACO has prosecuted 25 cases involving importation of large quantities of alternative smoking products. Twenty-eight persons have been convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from six weeks to eight months.

According to the Import and Export Ordinance (Cap. 60), a person who imports alternative smoking products, including electronic smoking products, heated tobacco products and herbal cigarettes, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for two years; or liable on conviction on indictment to a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

Under the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap. 371), no person may promote, manufacture, sell, or possess for commercial purposes alternative smoking products. An offender is liable to a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months.

     TACO will continue to closely monitor and enforce the law to combat related offences.

In addition, the DH also cautions the public that alternative smoking products are addictive and are not effective smoking cessation tools. E-cigarettes may increase the risk of cancer, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. Smokers are urged to quit smoking as early as possible for their own health and that of others. For assistance, please call the DH’s Integrated Smoking Cessation Hotline on 1833 183, or visit www.livetobaccofree.hk for information on quitting.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is a question by the Hon Tang Ka-piu and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, in the Legislative Council today (May 20):
 
Question:

     It is learnt that the fire alarm systems currently used in residential buildings in Hong Kong are primarily audible ones, while visual fire alarm systems (visual alarm systems) are mainly used in common areas rather than installed in units. There are views that in the event of a fire, persons with hearing impairment will miss the opportunity to escape because they are unable to notice audible alarms, which will even endanger their lives. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: 
President,

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hok-fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (May 20):
      
 Question:

     In response to the continuous expansion of the land transport network, franchised bus companies implement bus route rationalisation plans from time to time, including cancellation and amalgamation of routes. Some members of the public have complained to me that franchised bus companies disregard the needs of passengers and use bus route rationalisation as a means to maximise profits. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is a question by the Hon Elizabeth Quat and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, in the Legislative Council today (May 20):
 
Question:
 
     In recent years, cases of sexual abuse against children have aroused public concern. There are views that the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet technology is exposing children to more porn traps, while cases of persistent sexual abuse involving children are also encountering difficulties in terms of evidence collection and conviction. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the respective numbers of cases among the cases of sexual abuse against children in the past three years involving social media or online pornographic materials, and AI deepfake technology;
 
(2) of the measures put in place by the Government to prevent children from accessing online pornographic materials; whether it will draw reference from overseas experience and study regulating children’s use of social media; and
 
(3) given that child victims in sexual abuse cases often have immature mental development and cognitive abilities and do not know how to seek help in a timely manner, and that in cases involving long-term or repeated abuse, young victims usually have difficulty in accurately recalling and describing all the case details, resulting in difficulties in evidence collection, whether the Government will study amending the legislation or introducing targeted measures in view of such circumstances; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Government attaches great importance to the welfare of children, and has been striving to protect children from various kinds of harm, combat sexual offences against children and foster the healthy growth of children. The Government protects children through enforcement, promotion and education, and enhancement of protection under the law. In consultation with the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Health Bureau, the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Department of Justice (DoJ), the reply to the Member’s question is provided as follows:
 
(1) The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) recorded 2 156 child sexual abuse cases in the past three years.

     In view of the gravity of child abuse cases related to online child sexual grooming, the HKPF systematically maintains related figures starting from 2025 to provide an evidential basis for formulating more effective strategies to address the problem. Online child sexual grooming cases involve sex offenders aged 18 or above getting to know victims aged under 17 through the Internet (via channels such as communication applications, social media platforms and mobile game applications), with an aim to sexually abuse the victim. A total of 100 cases related to online child sexual grooming were recorded in 2025. Forty cases were recorded in the first four months of 2026.
 
(2) To prevent children from accessing online pornographic materials, the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) has been implementing publicity and education measures to enhance the understanding of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390) among children and young people, develop the concept of proper use of the Internet, and encourage relevant stakeholders to help them use the Internet wisely. Apart from continuing to organise programmes such as the “Healthy Information Student Ambassadors Scheme”, the “Healthy Student Video Contest”, and seminars in schools, etc, OFNAA introduced in-school mobile promotion stations in the 2025/26 school year to further promote the concept of rejecting harmful information in primary and secondary schools through interactive games, case sharing, role play, quiz competitions and exhibitions, etc. A total of 20 sessions of the relevant programme were held as of February 2026, reaching about 4 000 participants in total. In addition, OFNAA arranged about 100 roving drama performances for schools and eight roving exhibitions at different shopping malls and Government premises, promoting the relevant message to primary and secondary students as well as all sectors of the community respectively. 
 
     OFNAA has also strengthened inter-departmental and inter-organisational collaboration, working with the Education Bureau, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, the HKPF, the Customs and Excise Department, and the Immigration Department, etc, in organising multiple talks on “Wise Use of Internet” for different stakeholders including children and young people, parents, teaching staff and the public. The talks involve sharing on common online pitfalls to help them develop proper values while deepening their understanding of Cap. 390.
 
     The Chief Executive’s 2025 Policy Address also announced that the Department of Health would update the relevant guidelines to mitigate the impact of social media on the health of children and adolescents. The Advisory Group on Health Effects of Screen and Social Media Use for Children and Adolescents was established in October 2025 and is currently reviewing the latest scientific evidence as well as the relevant development and experiences in other countries and regions while consolidating expert opinions, with a view to issuing updated health recommendations on the use of electronic screens and social media by children and adolescents within 2026. 
     To support child victims who testify against perpetrators, and reduce their stress and secondary damages in criminal proceedings, the HKPF, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) and the Judiciary adopt special measures in the collection of evidence and during court hearings (such as arranging children to give evidence through video-recorded interviews conducted in a comfortable home-like environment by specially trained personnel, allowing children to testify by means of a live television link in the company of trained witness-support persons, and the Courts granting anonymity orders to protect the privacy of victims). Furthermore, the HKPF established the Vulnerable Witness and Child Protection Task Force jointly with the DoJ and the SWD in 2022 to speed up and improve the evidence collection, prosecution and follow-up work. In the same year, the HKPF also established the Vulnerable Witness Support Cadre to assist child victims through 250 professionally-trained members. These measures effectively support child victims in testifying against the perpetrators in sexual abuse cases, in order to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The Government welcomed the passage of the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2026 by the Legislative Council today (May 20) to increase the stamp duty rate for residential property transactions with an amount or value of consideration (whichever is higher) above $100 million from 4.25 per cent to 6.5 per cent with effect from February 26 this year, as proposed in the 2026-27 Budget.
 
A Government spokesperson said, “The measure upholds the principle of ‘affordable users pay’, and is expected to increase government revenue by about $1 billion per year. Only about 0.3 per cent of the highest-priced residential property transactions will be affected.”
 
The above legislation as passed will be gazetted on May 29. In respect of the applicable transactions with instruments executed between February 26 and May 28 this year, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) will issue letters to the relevant solicitors, requesting the buyers or sellers of those transactions to pay the difference between the old and new stamp duty by June 29. If the difference is not paid within the time limit, the IRD will impose a late stamping penalty of up to 10 times the difference, and may recover the outstanding stamp duty through civil proceedings.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     Following is a question by the Hon Shiu Ka-fai and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Health, Dr Cecilia Fan, in the Legislative Council today (May 20):

Question:

     It has been learnt that the Government plans to initiate legislative amendments in a timely manner to launch the Computerised Transaction Record System (the system platform), mandating licensed pharmaceutical traders (including pharmacies) to systematically record prescriptions and dispensing of antimicrobials (including antibiotics) through electronic means. However, members of the sector have relayed that some private medical practitioners currently purchase large quantities of medicines such as antibiotics through channels such as pharmaceutical manufacturers and then resell them to pharmacies via intermediaries for profit. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the latest progress of the legislative amendment exercise for the implementation of the system platform, and whether it has deliberated with stakeholders of the sector on such exercise; if so, the details;

(2) whether the Department of Health has identified any acts by the aforementioned medical practitioners involving suspected purchase and resale of large quantities of antibiotics in violation of regulations; if so, of the number of such cases received over the past five years;

(3) how it currently ascertain the quantities and sources, as well as the utilisation and usage, of medicines such as antibiotics purchased by individual medical practitioners; and

(4) whether it has any plans to mandate private medical practitioners to record antimicrobial prescriptions and dispensing on the system platform; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider separately formulating a systematic mechanism to comprehensively record the total quantities of medicines such as antibiotics purchased by private medical practitioners?

Reply:

President,

     Having consulted the Department of Health (DH), the reply to the Hon Shiu Ka-fai’s questions is as follows:

Control of sale and supply of antibiotics

     According to the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Cap. 138) and the Antibiotics Ordinance (Cap. 137), licensed wholesale dealers are legally required to record all information related to pharmaceutical products (including antimicrobials) acquired or disposed of by way of wholesale dealing, which includes the acquired quantity, supplied quantity, name of the supplier, and the person to whom they are supplied (including licensed pharmacies, registered medical practitioners, and more). Furthermore, a registered medical practitioner can only sell or supply antibiotics for the purpose of treatment and must maintain the relevant records of the antibiotics obtained by him. Any person who contravenes the relevant requirements regarding the control of the sale and supply of antibiotics commits an offence and is liable to a $50,000 fine and imprisonment for 12 months. Any person who contravenes the requirement of maintaining records shall also be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a $5,000 fine.

Effort against the threat of antimicrobial resistance

     Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) (Note 1) is listed as one of the global public health threats by the World Health Organization. To tackle the threat of AMR to public health, the Government set up the High Level Steering Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance in 2016 with a view to encouraging the collaboration, synergy and cross-fertilisation among all professional sectors under the “One Health” framework. In 2022, the Government launched the second Hong Kong Strategy and Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (the Action Plan) to map out response strategies towards the threat of AMR for 2023 to 2027.

     One of the recommendations of the Action Plan is to strengthen the regulation of over-the-counter purchases of prescription-only antimicrobials, which includes reviewing and considering amending relevant ordinance(s) to mandate the systematic recording of antimicrobial prescription and dispensing data through electronic means. According to the recommendations in the Action Plan, the Government has been developing the antimicrobials computerised transaction record system platform by phases to systematically record information on the acquisition and supply of antimicrobials in the supply chain (from wholesale to supply to end users) electronically, so that the legitimate use of antimicrobials in the market can be more effectively monitored. The Action Plan formulated the collection of electronic antimicrobials usage data in community pharmacies and in private clinics in 2025 and 2027 respectively.

     Phase 1 of the system platform was launched in June 2025 for voluntary participation by licensed drug dealers of antimicrobials, including manufacturers, wholesale dealers, and retailers (i.e. authorised sellers of poisons, which are commonly referred to as pharmacies). As of May 11, 2026, 54 per cent of the relevant licensed drug dealers had completed their registration on the system platform. The Government is preparing to develop Phase 2 of the system platform to collect antimicrobials usage data covering private clinics targeting to launch in 2027.

     In setting up Phase 1 of the system platform, the Government had extensively communicated with and collected views from various stakeholders, which included inviting licensed drug dealers with a large transaction volume of antimicrobials to attend the first and second user acceptance tests held from August to September 2024 and in February 2025 respectively. Furthermore, the DH organised four briefing sessions from October 2024 to May 2025 to introduce the development and progress of the antimicrobials computerised transaction record system platform to the industry and encourage them to use the system platform.

     On the other hand, the Electronic Health Record System Ordinance (Cap. 625) empowers the Secretary for Health to require specified healthcare providers to deposit specified health data into the personal eHealth accounts of citizens registered with eHealth. Among these, the Government will consider specifying important medication records, such as antimicrobial prescriptions and dispensing records, as a specified health data category. This will assist citizens in depositing relevant information into their eHealth accounts, thereby supporting clinical diagnosis and more effectively addressing the public health risks posed by AMR.

Enforcement actions

     In the past three years (from 2023 to 2025), the Drug Office of the DH conducted around 3 800 unannounced inspections of local pharmacies. During the same period, it handled 21 conviction cases involving the illegal sale of prescription drugs (including but not limited to antimicrobial drugs) by pharmacies. Among these 21 cases, the highest fine imposed was $72,000 (the total fine for all counts of offences), and there was a convicted person sentenced to two months’ imprisonment (suspended for three years).

     According to records, in the past five years, there have been no cases involving registered medical practitioners contravening the Antibiotics Ordinance. The Medical Council of Hong Kong also does not have any disciplinary sanction records related to registered medical practitioners purchasing large quantities of medicines such as antibiotics for resale for profit.

     The DH will continue to collect intelligence from different channels and, in accordance with established mechanisms, monitor the acquisition and supply of medicines (including antimicrobials) in the market. If the DH detects any persons suspected of illegal acquisition or sale of prescription drugs and antibiotics, it will promptly investigate and deal with the irregularities in accordance with the law.

     The DH will also continue to mobilise various professional sectors to effectively implement the recommendations under the six key areas stated in the Action Plan and collaborate with the World Health Organization to jointly address the threat posed by AMR to public health.

Note 1: AMR occurs when microorganisms evolve and become resistant to previously effective medications. When patients are infected with drug-resistant bacteria, their illness may be prolonged, and their risk of death may even increase. The misuse and overuse of antibiotics are the major factors leading to the development of drug-resistant bacteria.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

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.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

Hong Kong Customs on April 30 seized about 8 000 suspected counterfeit goods and about 38 000 alternative smoking products (ASPs) with a total estimated market value of about $1.9 million at the Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal.

Through risk assessment, Customs on that day inspected a 40-foot container arriving in Hong Kong from Nansha, Guangdong. After inspection, Customs officers found the batches of suspected counterfeit goods and ASPs within the container.

     An initial investigation revealed that the batches of suspected counterfeit goods and ASPs would be transhipped to overseas regions.

The investigation is ongoing.

Customs will continue to take stringent enforcement action against counterfeit goods and smuggling activities through risk assessment and intelligence analysis.

Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, any person who imports or exports any goods to which a forged trademark is applied commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.

Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years upon conviction.

Members of the public may report any suspected counterfeiting 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/).