Revenue

The department collected $7 414 million of revenue in 2003-04, representing a decrease of 2.0 per cent against that for 2002-03 as a result of a decrease in duties and fees revenue. The revenue for 2004-05 amounted to $7 737 million, representing an increase of 4.4 per cent against that for 2003-04 as a result of an increase in duties and trade declaration charges. A summary of the revenue collected in 2003-04 and 2004-05 is at Appendix 8. For 2003-04, the drop in revenue was, apart from the decrease in attendance fee collection due to the implementation of the Open Bond System in mid-2003, mainly attributable to the reduction in hydrocarbon oils consumption and the consumption on alcoholic beverages due to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome which led to a drop in local consumer spending. For 2004-05, the increase in revenue is mainly attributable to the increase in alcoholic beverages consumption due to the general revival in local consumer spending and the increase in collection from import and export declaration charges due to an increase in the total number of trade declarations.

Expenditure

2. The total expenditure of the department in 2003-04 amounted to $1 916 million, of which 84.7 per cent was on Personal Emoluments, 12.3 per cent on Departmental Expenses and 3.0 per cent on Capital Account Expenditure, representing a decrease of 0.2 per cent over that for 2002-03. The total expenditure of the department in 2004-05 amounted to $1 853 million, of which 84.6 per cent is on Personal Emoluments, 14.4 per cent on Departmental Expenses and 1.0 per cent on Capital Account Expenditure, representing a decrease of 3.3 per cent over that for 2003-04. A summary of the total expenditure is at Appendix 9. The decrease in expenditure in the last two years is due to the effect of the civil service pay cuts in 2004 and 2005 and the reduction in operating expenses mainly as a result of the deletion of posts and the changes in cashflow requirements for capital account items.

3. By programme area, the department’s expenditure is distributed as follows :

Seizure Management

4. The management and disposal of seized goods remained one of the department's major tasks as a result of successful enforcement activities. In 2003-04, the department has a total storage space of 67 997 m² for holding seized goods and vehicles of which 62 509 m² are in government godowns and the remaining 5 488 m² in private godowns. The department has acquired an additional storage space of 6 213 m² in the Government Logistics Centre in Chai Wan in 2004-05 in return for the phasing out of some storage space in several old government godowns. There is also a schedule for the department to relocate the vehicle detention center from Kai Tak to Sha Tin in 2005 as a result of the intended site re-development of the former.

5. After the forfeiture, the seized goods are disposed of by auction or destruction. In 2003-04, the department disposed of 102 740 items of confiscated goods, including cigarettes, optical discs, drugs, garments and vehicles. Proceeds from the sale of forfeited goods amounted to $22 million. On going effort is made to speed up disposal action after the seized goods are confiscated.