FAQs

The purpose of the Weights and Measures Ordinance, Chapter 68, Laws of Hong Kong is to protect consumers against unfair trade practices and short weights and measures in the course of trade. It is an offence under this Ordinance for any person who possesses, manufactures, supplies and uses false or defective weighing and measuring equipment for the purpose of trade. It also prohibits the sales of goods by weight or measure in the course of trade otherwise than by net weight or measure. For details, you can purchase a copy of the Ordinance by calling the Publications Sales Unit of the Information Services Department at (852) 2537 1910; through email to puborder@isd.gov.hk.

For periodical verification and calibration, you may approach any one of the laboratories accredited under the Hong Kong Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (HOKLAS) administrated by Commissioner for Innovation and Technology. For enquiry, please call Innovation and Technology Commission at (852) 2829 4830 or visit its website at https://www.itc.gov.hk/en/quality/hkas/accreditation/hoklas.html.

No, as long as the weighing equipment uses metric, British Imperial or Chinese units as units of measures, they can be used for the purpose of trade.

If a toy or children's product is to be sold locally, then it is required under the Toys and Children"s Products Safety (Additional Safety Standards or Requirements) Regulation, Chapter 424C, Laws of Hong Kong to bear the "identification marking". It should carry the name, trade or other identification mark and the local address of the manufacturer, importer or supplier in English, Chinese or both languages.

According to the Toys and Children"s Products Safety (Additional Safety Standards or Requirements) Regulation, Chapter 424C, Laws of Hong Kong, if a toy or children"s product is marked with a warning or caution with respect to its safe keeping, use, consumption or disposal, such warning or caution must be in both the English and Chinese languages.

It is advisable to affix the Chinese label alongside the English label or vice versa. If this is not possible, then it should be legibly and conspicuously placed on the goods, any package of the goods or a document enclosed in the package, or securely affixed to the package so that the consumers can easily read the messages.

According to the Toys and Children"s Products Safety (Additional Safety Standards or Requirements) Regulation, Chapter 424C, Laws of Hong Kong, there is no specification on the size of the letters of the identification marking and safety warning or caution. However, the identification marking and the safety warning or caution must be clearly legible. Besides, under the safety standards for toys and specifications for children's products adopted by a standards institute specified under the Toys and Children's Products Safety Ordinance, Chapter 424, Laws of Hong Kong, for certain toys and children's products (e.g. aquatic toys and child safety barriers for domestic use), the size of the letters of the warning or caution should be generally no less than 5 mm.

No, it should only apply to toys which are not suitable for children under 3 years old. However, the application of such warning / caution on toys which are intended for children under 3 years old will not waive the liability of the suppliers if the toys contain small parts.

The definition of "supply" under the Toys and Children's Products Safety Ordinance, Chapter 424, Laws of Hong Kong includes "for commercial purposes, to give goods as a prize or to make a gift of the goods." Therefore, if the toy is given out for commercial purposes, it is required to comply with the statutory safety standards for toys.

You can obtain the details from the Product Standards Information Bureau of the Innovation and Technology Commission on the 36th floor, Immigration Tower, 7 Gloucester Road, HK (Tel: (852) 2829 4820   Fax: (852) 2824 1302). Its website is https://www.itc.gov.hk/en/quality/qsdiv/index.html.

You can obtain the information from the Hong Kong Laboratory Accreditation Scheme Secretariat at the same address and fax number as the Product Standards Information Bureau (Tel: (852) 2829 4840 Fax: (852) 2824 1302).

Pursuant to the Toys and Children"s Products Safety (Additional Safety Standards or Requirements) Regulation, Chapter 424C, Laws of Hong Kong, a toy or children"s product can be placed into the mouth of a child under 4 years of age if –

1. each dimension of the toy or product is less than 5 cm; or
2. the toy or product can, in a reasonably foreseeable manner, be brought to the mouth of such a child and kept in the mouth so that the toy or product can be sucked or chewed.

In general, a toy, a children"s product or a part of it will not be regarded as "can be placed into the mouth" if it can just be licked.

Under the Consumer Goods Safety Ordinance, it is a requirement for consumer goods to be reasonably safe having regard to the following circumstances:

• the manner in which and the purpose for which the goods are sold;
• the use of marks, instructions or warnings on the goods in connection with its keeping, use or consumption;
• compliance with reasonable safety standards published by a standards institute; and
• the existence of reasonable means to make the goods safer.

Under the Consumer Goods Safety Regulation, where consumer goods or their packages are marked with, or where any labels affixed to or any documents enclosed in their packages contain, any warning or caution with respect to their safe keeping, use, consumption or disposal, such warning or caution shall be in both the English and the Chinese languages, and shall be legible and placed in a conspicuous position on the consumer goods or any package of the consumer goods.

If it is a warning or caution with respect to the safe keeping, use, consumption or disposal of the consumer product, such warning or caution shall also be presented in corresponding English and Chinese versions, and shall be legible and placed in a conspicuous position on the consumer product or any package of the consumer product.

If it is a warning or caution with respect to the safe keeping, use, consumption or disposal of the consumer product, such warning or caution shall also be presented in a corresponding Chinese version, and shall be legible and placed in a conspicuous position on the consumer product or any package of the consumer product. On the other hand, when there is already such warning or caution in Chinese, it shall also be presented in a corresponding English version.

The Quality Services Division of the Innovation and Technology Commission provides online standard information resources and standard sales service. The public are welcome to contact the services at 36/F, Immigration Tower, 7 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong (Tel: (852) 2829 4820; Fax: (852) 2824 1302). Its website is https://www.itc.gov.hk/en/quality/qsdiv/index.html. For information on approved laboratories, the public are welcome to approach the Hong Kong Accreditation Service of Quality Services Division, the address and fax number of which are the same as above. Its telephone number is (852) 2829 4841.

C&ED attaches great importance to the protection of consumer interests. In addition to routine patrol and inspections of business premises, undercover operations will also be mounted for the purpose of ascertaining traders" compliance with the Trade Descriptions Ordinance ("TDO"). From time to time, C&ED will review its enforcement strategy and effectively redeploy its enforcement resources against TDO cases of significant public concerns, so as to ensure a level playing field for business. On the educational front, C&ED will conduct educational seminars / briefing sessions to enhance traders" awareness of the legislative requirements. Besides, any successful prosecutions, accepted undertakings and injunction applied will be uploaded to our website for public scrutiny. By making this relevant information publicly available, it is hoped that consumers will be able to have a better understanding of the prevalent unfair trade practices and be a smart consumer.

Given the wide range of traders in both goods and services that fall within the scope of the fair trading sections, in prioritizing its enforcement actions, C&ED will adopt a risk-based approach and adhere to the principle of effective use of enforcement resources. Generally speaking, C&ED will accord a higher priority to conduct involving significant public interests or concerns; traders lacking of remorse; repeated offenders; commercial practice that will result in significant monetary or financial detriment on the part of consumers; and conduct that indicates a significant, new or emerging market trend. By setting up investigation priorities, C&ED maximizes the effectiveness of enforcement actions for the protection of the interests of consumers and honest traders.

On top of the existing regulations governing gold, gold alloy and platinum products, the scope of the amended Trade Descriptions Ordinance, Chapter 362, Laws of Hong Kong has been extended to regulate diamond, natural Fei Cui and five types of electronic products, namely mobile phone, portable multimedia player, digital camera, digital audio player and digital camcorder.

The invoice or receipt shall contain the full name and address of the shop where the products are sold.

Retailers shall retain copy of invoices or receipts issued by them for a period of not less than 3 years after the date of issue, for inspection by Customs officer. Penalty for failure to do so may be liable to a fine of $5,000 and imprisonment for one month.

No. The Trade Descriptions (Provision of Information on Natural Fei Cui) Order, Chapter 362M, Laws of Hong Kong and the Trade Descriptions (Provision of Information on Diamond) Order, Chapter 362N, Laws of Hong Kong specified that the prescribed information shall be contained in invoices or receipts issued by retailers at the time of supplying natural fei cui or diamond and not by a third party.

Only products conforming to the definition of "fei cui" or "natural fei cui" in the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, Chapter 362, Laws of Hong can be described as "fei cui" or "natural fei cui". The expression "natural fei cui" means that the fei cui has not undergone any treatment or process which altered its crystalline structure or original colour. The Ordinance has not dealt with the relationship between "jade" and "fei cui".

The standard of fineness for "Chuk Kam" is raised from 990 to 999 parts by weight of gold in 1000 parts by weight of alloy. A retailer supplying "Chuk Kam" product shall state the weight of the article (if the whole article is "Chuk Kam") in the invoice or receipt issued to the buyer.

The Trade Descriptions (Definition of Platinum) Regulation, Chapter 362B, Laws of Hong Kong provides that "鉑金" or "白金" is the Chinese rendition for "platinum". An article shall not be described as "platinum" ("白金" or "鉑金") or "platinum alloy" ("白金合金" or "鉑金合金") if its fineness is less than 850 parts of platinum in 1000 parts by weight of alloy. The expression "Chuk Pak Kam" ("足白金" or "足鉑金") in the course of trade means platinum or platinum alloy of fineness by weight of not less than 990 parts in 1000 parts by weight of alloy.

No. The Trade Descriptions (Provision of Information on Regulated Electronic Products) Order, Chapter 362O, Laws of Hong Kong specifies that the prescribed information shall be contained in invoices or receipts issued by retailers themselves at the time of supplying regulated electronic products and not by a third party.

If a retailer has made a representation to a buyer that such service is available in one of those places, information on that particular place shall be stated in the invoice or receipt. If the retailer has not made any representation to the buyer, having regard to all the information available to the retailer and information on the place that the buyer will be most likely to avail himself of such service, the information of that place shall be stated in the invoice or receipt.