Ten arrested for breaching new milk formula restrictions
Travellers caught at Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau checkpoints trying to carry more than two tins of milk formula into mainland
Ten people were arrested on the border for breaching a new restriction on milk formula export that came into effect on Friday.
The ten – eight Hong Kong and two mainland travellers – were caught at Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau checkpoints for separately trying to carry more than two tins, or 1.8 kilograms, of milk formula into the mainland.
In the most serious case discovered, one traveller was found with 15 tins of milk formula, assistant customs commissioner Yu Koon-hing said.
The new restriction came into force on Friday to curb cross-border trading of the baby food.
Before creation of the new restriction, many Hong Kong mothers had complained of having difficulty buying milk formula for their babies.
They blamed cross-border traders who regularly buy up large amounts of the formula in Hong Kong and transport it to the mainland for a profitable resale.