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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting this Wednesday (May 9) at 11 am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on combating unscrupulous shops.
The motion, to be moved by Hon LAU Kong-wah, states: "That, in view of the rising number of cases of Mainland tourists being cheated while shopping in Hong Kong, this Council urges the Government to adopt active measures to rigorously combat unscrupulous shops ripping off customers and to strengthen the regulation of the tourism industry, in order to restore the confidence of tourists coming to Hong Kong for shopping, including:
(a) studying the consolidation of the provisions relating to protecting consumer rights and interests in the existing legislation into a Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests Ordinance;
(b) comprehensively reviewing the existing legislation on protecting consumer rights and interests, and tightening up regulation to cover the marketing practices of alluding to particular brands or misleading the customers;
(c) enhancing the regular inspections and "undercover" operations carried out by the Police and the Customs and Excise Department to crack down on shops engaging in fraudulent practices and selling fake products;
(d) requesting the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) to set up a complaint website, so that Mainland tourists may lodge complaints through the website after their departure from Hong Kong;
(e) expeditiously discussing with the TIC the introduction of a demerit point system to regulate travel agents and tour guides; and
(f) fully disclosing the parties involved in complaint cases, including the names of shops, the local and Mainland travel agents, as well as the tour guides concerned."
Hon Howard YOUNG and Hon Fred LI will move separate amendments to Hon LAU Kong-wah's motion.
Members will also debate a motion on improving the planning for Hong Kong and reducing screen-like buildings. The motion, to be proposed by Hon WONG Kwok-hing, says: "That, despite the planning guidelines provided in the existing Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines on building density, layout, urban design and air ventilation etc, such guidelines are not legally binding, resulting in the recent emergence of a large number of screen-like buildings, which not only affect the air ventilation and lighting, etc of the neighbouring areas but also bring adverse impact on the planning of ancillary facilities, such as transport and public realm, for the entire community; in view of the above, this Council urges the Government to thoroughly review the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, consider introducing legislative measures to regulate the density and height of buildings, air ventilation and lighting, etc, and, at the same time, protect the ridgelines and harbour view, so as to ensure better planning for Hong Kong."
Hon Frederick FUNG, Hon Audrey EU, Prof Hon Patrick LAU Sau-shing and Hon LEE Wing-tat will move separate amendments to Hon WONG Kwok-hing's motion.
During the meeting, Members will also ask the Administration 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the Legislative Council InfoFax Service (Tel: 2869 9568) or the Legislative Council web site (http://www.legco.gov.hk).
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Legislative Council Chamber. They may reserve seats by calling 2869 9399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also listen to the meeting via the audio webcast system on the Legislative Council homepage.
Ends/Monday, May 7, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:45
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