Custom officers to put bite on trade cheats

A team of 147 customs officers, some undercover, will be sent out to crack down on businesses breaching the expanded trade description law that takes effect on Friday.

"I want every business to treat consumers as customs officers," Commissioner of Customs & Excise Clement Cheung Wan-ching said yesterday.

Despite complaints from retailers that they have had too little time to prepare for the new rules, which prohibit some trading practices, a tough-talking Cheung said there was no room for leniency.

"The law does not allow us to have a grace period, nor would a grace period be accepted by the public," Cheung said. "This is a tiger that has teeth. The question is: how many people will it eat?"

Amendments to the Trade Descriptions (Unfair Trade Practices) Ordinance passed last year, extend coverage of the law from goods to services. Businesses that repeatedly offend or which target vulnerable individuals could face criminal proceedings.

"Unscrupulous" trading practices, including misleading omissions and "bait advertising", which lures customers into buying more expensive goods, are outlawed and a framework for legal enforcement is provided.

Cheung said his force's primary targets would be companies "of a larger scale, with bigger potential impact and a higher potential risk".