Any person in the course of trade supplying goods to another person by weight, measure or number short of the quantity purporting to be supplied commits an offence, a spokesman for the Customs and Excise Department said today (April 1).
He reiterated that Customs officers would step up enforcement actions to crack down on such malpractice in the trade, including retail and distribution levels, to protect consumers' interest, and to ensure that Hong Kong maintains fair trade.
Under the Weights and Measures Ordinance, the maximum penalty for the offence is a fine of $10,000.
The Customs reminder came after the suppliers of six vegetable stalls were fined ranging from $600 to $3,000 by the magistrate of the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts yesterday (March 31). They pleaded guilty to the offence of supplying vegetables short of the quantity purporting to be supplied.
The goods involved were various vegetables namely cabbage, taro, cucumber and Chinese kale with the market value ranging from $44 to $110 per basket.
The court heard that officers of Customs and Excise Department test-purchased the above vegetables at Cheung Sha Wan Vegetable Wholesale Market on September 15, 2005. After the transactions, the customs officers revealed their identities and checked the purchased goods with their electronic balance. They found that the actual weight of the vegetables supplied by six vegetable stalls was less than their purported weight. On the same day, the officers delivered the vegetables to the Government Laboratory for examination. Result of the examination showed that the actual weight of those vegetables was less than the quantity purporting to be supplied, ranging from 3.6 per cent to 16.03 per cent in deficiency.
In 2005, there were 27 cases of prosecution relating to shortweight and defective weighing equipment involving $72,700 fine totally whereas in the first two months this year, there were ten such cases of prosecution involving a total fine of $16,200.
Ends/Saturday, April 1, 2006