A supplier was fined $360,000 today (January 16) at the District Court following an earlier conviction of supplying surgical masks with false trade descriptions, in violation of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO).
Hong Kong Customs received a complaint from the Government Logistics Department (GLD) on August 31, 2020, alleging that the mask supplier was suspected of supplying masks with a false claim of origin to the GLD. After investigation, Customs officers found that approximately 12.5 million surgical masks claiming to be manufactured in Japan supplied by the supplier to the GLD from July 9, 2020, to August 18, 2020, were different from the facts.
Customs reminds traders to comply with the requirements of the TDO. Under the TDO, any person who supplies goods with a false trade description in the course of trade or business, or is in possession of any goods for sale with a false trade description, commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
Members of the public may report any suspected violations of the TDO to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002/).
Ends/Tuesday, January 16, 2024