City's NPC delegates to highlight parallel trading woes

A tighter grip by mainland authorities on parallel traders tops the wish list of Hong Kong deputies to the national legislature and leading political advisory body.

Tightening controls on traders, who take everything from baby formula to electronics from Hong Kong for resale across the border, will be among several proposals but forward by local delegates at the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference plenary meetings.

NPC delegate Michael Tien Puk-sun said he would propose that mainland immigration and customs departments share a common database to help customs officers work out which travellers made more than one cross-border visit per day.

"The central government should allow customs to get access to travellers' entry and exit information, so that it can have sufficient data to enforce the law," Tien said.

"Now customs is a toothless tiger. Travellers can make up an excuse, saying the goods they are carrying are for their own use, because customs agents don't know how many visits an individual has made in one day."

Adopting the proposal would make it easier for customs officials to decide who to stop and search, Tien said.