Replies to initial written questions raised by Finance Committee Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13 Director of Bureau : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Session No. 12 File name : cedb(cit)- doc
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- Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13
Question : Among the 215 “consumer educational programmes” mentioned in the 2012-13 Estimates, how many of them are targeted on tourists? What will be the cost involved for each programme? As the number of complaints from inbound tourists has been on the rise in recent years, will the Consumer Council increase or deploy resources and manpower to provide more programmes to “educate” inbound tourists and “assist tourists in better understanding Hong Kong’s market practices”? If yes, what is the specific plan? If no, can the Consumer Council look into the matter as soon as possible? Asked by : Hon. TSE Wai-chun, Paul Reply : The Consumer Council (CC) is concerned about the consumer rights of visitors and has established the “Shopsmart” website for visitors from the Mainland. The website aims to enhance their understanding about Hong Kong, assist them to appreciate the cultural differences between the two places, strengthen their confidence to shop in Hong Kong and raise their awareness of their consumer rights before they come to Hong Kong. Apart from the latest product testing reports and surveys, “Shopsmart” contains information on cultural diversity, tips on using credit cards, prohibited / controlled items into or out of Hong Kong and issues on refunds. Separately, complaint cases and the list of shops convicted of selling counterfeit drugs are also posted on the website for reference. Promotion leaflets on the website are available at inbound border control points. As at January 2012, the website has been viewed more than 1 million times and recorded a hit rate of over 98 million. In view of its popularity, the CC plans to revamp the design of the “Shopsmart” website and strengthen its contents in 2012-13. The CC also plans to launch a mobile version, so that users can surf the website by mobile phones. The CC will also step up promotion by establishing hyperlinks with websites of search engines on the Mainland, the National Tourism Administration of The Peoples’ Republic of China, and other consumer protection agencies in the Mainland. The cost concerned will be around HK$300,000. The Council organizes “consumer education programmes” on a regular basis and the programmes are mainly aimed for local consumers, including teenagers, senior persons and new arrivals as well as teachers, social workers, parents, women and persons with disabilities.
Question : Can the Consumer Council extend its Weekly Price Survey (covering food items and daily necessities available for sale in supermarkets and retail outlets) and Supermarket Price Watch to cover the tourism market, including the comparison of prices and quality of travel products such as travel insurance and the itineraries of different travel agents, so that local travellers and Mainland and overseas tourists can use such information as reference when they plan their trip? If so, what is the extra manpower likely to be required? If not, can it consider this suggestion as soon as possible? Asked by : Hon. TSE Wai-chun, Paul Reply : In 2008, the Consumer Council (the Council) launched surveys to monitor the prices of food items and daily necessities, the objective being to enhance the transparency of the prices of major daily commodities. At present, the Weekly Price Survey compares the prices of a basket of food items and daily necessities available for sale in supermarket chains, health and beauty chain stores, grocery stores and drug stores. The Supermarket Price Watch monitors the prices of about 1 300 items available for sale in online stores of four supermarkets and retail stores. The Council has no plan to expand the two surveys to cover other areas. As travel products differ from each other very much in terms of their nature and details, it would be more difficult to conduct regular and direct comparison in the same way as the Council does for daily commodities. Nevertheless, the Council will continue to carry out surveys or studies on topics which are of consumers’ concern, including those in relation to travelling (such as studies on travel insurance and outbound travel alert system that it has conducted in recent years, and opinion surveys on travel agencies). The results will be publicized through the Choice Magazine and uploaded to the ShopSmart website.
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