The Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), after seeking the consent of the Secretary for Justice, has accepted a written undertaking by a bakery, suspected to have contravened the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO), under the civil compliance-based mechanism of the TDO.
A C&ED spokesperson said today (January 14) that Customs found during an investigation into a bakery in August last year that its bread products contained artificial flavours or extracts which were commonly used in the food industry, contrary to the claims of "natural" and "no additives" in its official website and advertisements.
The bakery later took the initiative to apologise to the public for having used artificial flavours in its products. The bakery was co-operative in the course of investigation and proposed to undertake in writing not to continue or repeat the conduct and will take remedial actions. Having fully assessed the trader's proposal, Customs accepted the undertaking for a period of two years under the TDO upon obtaining the consent from the Secretary for Justice. The undertaking has been uploaded to the C&ED's homepage
(www.customs.gov.hk/en/customs_notices/undertake/index.html).
The spokesperson stressed that if the trader breaches any terms of the undertaking, the C&ED might withdraw the acceptance of the undertaking pursuant to the TDO and commence investigation and instigate legal proceedings.
Under Section 7 of the TDO, any person who supplies goods with a false trade description in the course of trade or business commits a criminal offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years. Under Section 30L of the TDO, a civil compliance-based mechanism has been put in place to encourage compliance by traders and to settle matters concerned expeditiously. The Enforcement Agency, having regard to the nature, actual circumstances of the case and relevant factors, may accept an undertaking from the traders involved after obtaining a written consent from the Secretary for Justice.
Members of the public may report any suspected violations of the TDO to the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182.
Ends/Tuesday, January 14 2014