Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ16: Health declaration forms
Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong Wah and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (February 4):
Question :
It has been reported that travellers from the Mainland are required to complete and submit health declaration forms to the Hong Kong authorities when they enter Hong Kong. They are also required to declare their state of health to the Mainland authorities when they return to the Mainland. Some Mainland travellers fill in the forms while travelling on the trains from other Mainland provinces and cities to Shenzhen, so as to expedite immigration clearance. However, not all passengers on every train are given health declaration forms. Many of them have to obtain and complete the forms at the Joint Inspection Terminal beside the Lo Wu Railway Station, thereby causing delay in immigration clearance. Moreover, Mainland travellers who enter Hong Kong and return to the Mainland via other land boundary control points, the airport and seaports suffer a similar delay. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it knows which government department in the Mainland is currently responsible for distributing health declaration forms to Mainland travellers visiting Hong Kong; if no government department has been designated to be responsible for this, whether the Hong Kong authorities will put forward proposals and offer assistance to the Mainland authorities in this respect;
(b) it has received complaints about the above delays from Mainland travellers who enter Hong Kong and return to the Mainland via land boundary control points, the airport and seaports; if so, how the Hong Kong authorities follow up such complaints with their Mainland counterparts; and
(c) since the implementation of the "Individual Visit Scheme" for Mainland travellers visiting Hong Kong, it has measures to resolve the problem of clearance delays encountered by Mainland travellers in entering Hong Kong and returning to the Mainland as referred to above; if so, of the effectiveness of these measures?
Reply :
(a) The Government has enlisted the assistance of the Mainland authorities to make the Health Declaration (HD) Forms available for Mainland travellers at the Exit and Entry Administration (EEA) Offices of the Guangdong Public Security Bureau so that individual travellers may complete the forms as required before entering Hong Kong.
Besides, to facilitate the process of health declaration and passenger movement at the boundary control points (BCPs), the Department of Health (DH) has enlisted the assistance of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation to distribute the HD Forms and broadcast health messages on the through-trains arriving Hong Kong. Transport companies operating cross-boundary coaches have also been assisting in making the HD Forms available for arriving passengers on board. Similar arrangements have been made for travellers arriving by air or by sea. All airlines as well as the ferry lines arriving from Macau and the Pearl River Delta area have been distributing the HD Forms to their passengers.
(b) Since the introduction of HD Forms, over 75 million passengers and crews have filled out the Forms. Two complaints have so far been received by DH which were related to the distribution of the HD Forms by the transport operators. Upon investigation into these complaints, the transport operators concerned were reminded to distribute the HD Forms to their passengers on board well before arriving at Hong Kong.
(c)Since the implementation of the Individual Visit Scheme on July 28, 2003, there has been a significant increase in the number of Mainland travellers coming to Hong Kong. In order to cope with the increasing passenger flow while maintaining quality immigration service, the Immigration Department (Imm D) has taken a series of measures to enhance the handling capacity of BCPs, such as deploying staff flexibly to reinforce BCPs; applying advanced automation technology through measures such as introducing faster optical character recognition readers and installing the "Expeditious Immigration Clearance System" (EIC System); and maintaining close liaison and cooperation with stakeholders within and outside the government, particularly the tourism and transport sectors.
To minimise any delay that may be caused by the requirement regarding HD Forms as referred to above, DH has deployed staff at the BCPs to remind and assist people in filling out these forms. In addition, with the assistance of the Tourism Commission, Imm D deploys about 200 Tourism Development Assistants at Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and China Ferry Terminal to assist Mainland visitors in using the EIC System, undergoing temperature checks, and completing the HD Forms and arrival cards. In conjunction with the installation of the EIC System, the arrangement has shortened the clearance time and improved the efficiency of immigration counter officers by about 10 per cent.
Apart from the HD Forms mentioned in part (a), Imm D has also enlisted assistance of Mainland authorities to make the Arrival Cards available at the EEA Offices for Mainland visitors to allow them to complete the forms before arrival. Imm D has also produced a VCD, which explains the immigration procedures, including the requirements for completion of various forms upon arrival, for viewing by Mainland tourists at the waiting halls of EEA Offices.
Our observation so far is that the above measures have effectively helped to maintain a smooth and orderly cross-boundary passenger traffic. Importantly, the effectiveness of these measures has been able to stand up to the tests posed by peak periods like the National Day Golden Week, the Christmas and New Year Holidays and the Lunar New Year Golden Week.
Ends/Wednesday, February 4,2004
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