The Customs and Excise Department is responsible for the protection of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) against smuggling by enforcing licensing controls on prohibited articles through inspection of cargoes imported and exported by air, land and sea, and searching aircraft, vessels and vehicles entering and leaving the HKSAR.
Documents required to facilitate Customs clearance are:
The Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) attaches great importance to the protection and facilitation of legitimate trade and industry in addition to upholding the trading integrity of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Risk management is employed on selection of cargo for examination to ensure Customs intervention at control points is kept to the minimal. To expedite cargo clearance, there are several electronic cargo clearance systems to facilitate submission of advance cargo information by shippers.
There is an Air Cargo Clearance System (ACCS) which enhances the Customs clearance of air cargoes. The ACCS enables the C&ED to provide fast Customs clearance service to the legitimate trade without compromising security of the HKSAR.
For cargo imported or exported by trucks through land boundary control points (LBCPs), the Road Cargo System (ROCARS) enables registered shippers or their authorized agents to submit advance cargo information to the C&ED by electronic means. Meanwhile, cross-boundary truck drivers also enjoy seamless Customs clearance service and they will be signaled by ROCARS whether their vehicles shall be examined upon arrival at the fully automated Customs clearance facilities at the LBCPs.
For containerized cargoes conveyed by ocean-going vessels, the C&ED will issue detention notices to shipping agents, container terminal operators, godown operators and consignees requiring their submission of cargo manifests for Customs scrutiny. Apart from the conventional paper handling method, the C&ED also encourages carriers to submit electronic manifests via the Electronic System for Cargo Manifests (EMAN) prior to the arrival of shipments.
For containerized cargoes conveyed by river trade vessels, the C&ED may issue detention notices to the consignees of the cargoes, shipping agents, container terminal operators and godown operators requiring their cargoes to be removed to premises nominated by the consignees, owners or shipping agents for cargo examination.
For non-containerized sea cargoes, the C&ED will deploy officers to conduct strike and search operations onboard the vessels or at the respective loading spots e.g. Public Cargo Working Areas or buoys. The masters or agents of the vessels are required to furnish manifests in respect of the cargoes being imported or exported if they are requested to do so.