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Lai Ying-kit

Food safety officials are seeking clarification over a reported ban on deliveries of mooncakes from the city to the mainland - a move they suspect is part of a crackdown on parallel trading activities, the health minister said yesterday.
Mainland media reported on Monday that a shipment of 190 boxes of Hong Kong-made mooncakes was seized in Zhejiang province last week, possibly due to controls on the import of foods containing egg.
Fresh eggs, salted eggs and other products made with egg cannot be carried or posted to the mainland, according to a catalogue issued by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Such controls were practised in some countries for the prevention of infectious diseases, Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man said yesterday before flying to Beijing on a visit.
Read more: Hong Kong customs net 135 boxes of copycat mooncake

But he believed the seizure was aimed at so-called parallel traders, who buy goods in Hong Kong for resale to avoid mainland taxes. Such traders have been the subject of bitter, sometimes violent, protests by Hongkongers who accuse them of swamping towns close to the border.
"This probably relates to a crackdown on parallel-goods trading," Ko said. "The mainland authorities have the right to do that."
On Monday, Shenzhen launched a four-day crackdown on traders at the border, the media reports added.
Read more: Bid to lift Hong Kong ‘milk ban’ backfired, Liberal Party leader admits after localist protesters return to streets 

Since the news emerged, parallel-goods trading activities near the border had quietened, North District Parallel Imports Concern Group spokesman Leung Kam-shing said.
"Most storage centres in two industrial areas where parallel-goods traders store their products have closed," he said. "The Lo Wu border crossing has also become quieter."
Leung expected traders to lie low during the crackdown, which comes ahead of this month's Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, but was concerned they would be back later.
He said North District had seen an increasing number of mainland tourists and traders buying mooncakes in the past few years. He said supply to local residents remained sufficient.
The Beijing Morning Post reported that some mooncake deliveries from outside the mainland had been confiscated.
A woman was quoted as saying she had spent 988 yuan (HK$1,200) on two boxes of egg yolk mooncakes through a Hong Kong online shop last week.
She had bought mooncakes from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam online before.
 


Hungry Hong Kong customers call on Shenzhen couriers for braised bullfrog, duck neck and other mainland Chinese delicacies

‘We are just earning a living’: parallel trading on the rise in Hong Kong border town as trend makes comeback post-Covid curbs

Hong Kong customs to meet Guangdong counterparts to discuss resurgence in parallel trading, vows crackdown

Mainland shoppers return to Hong Kong, but some border shopkeepers fear boom times have gone for good

Parallel trading

Hong Kong-made mooncakes seized in mainland China 'in crackdown on parallel-goods trading'

The mainland has imposed controls on the import of food containing egg, however suspected parallel-goods trading activities is seen at the Sheung Shui train station. Photo: Felix Wong

The mainland has imposed controls on the import of food containing egg. 

The Centre for Food Safety is enquiring about the reported confiscation of a shipment of Hong Kong-made mooncakes in Zhejiang province last week, Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man says. Photos: Edward Wong, Stanley Shin

One of the pharmacies sell boxes of mooncakes in Sheung Shui. Photo: Felix Wong

Hong Kong customs net 135 boxes of copycat mooncakes

Customs officer Michael Kwan shows the genuine Hang Heung mooncake on the left and the copycat. Photo: Felix Wong

Bid to lift Hong Kong ‘milk ban’ backfired, Liberal Party leader admits after localist protesters return to streets

Localists protested against parallel trading in Sheung Shui on Sunday.

Outgoing travellers have been limited to two tins of infant milk formula since 2013. Photo: Felix Wong

Outgoing travellers have been limited to two tins of infant milk formula since 2013. Photo: Edward Wong

Localists protested against parallel trading in Sheung Shui on Sunday. Photo: David Wong

Liberal Party leader Vincent Fang Kang claimed the "milk ban" had resulted in tense Hong Kong-mainland relations. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Anti-parallel trading protests ‘unhelpful for Hong Kong’s image as a tourist destination’, CY Leung says

Localists protest against parallel trading in Sheung Shui on Sunday. Photo: David Wong

Leung said a distinction should be made between parallel-goods trading and genuine tourism. Photo: Nora Tam

'These actions hurt Hong Kong': Officials slam 'irresponsible' parallel trading protesters who return to Sheung Shui after six-month lull

Officials said the protesters were "irresponsible".  Photo: David Wong/SCMP

Following the march, reporters claimed officers pushed them and protesters on a crowded footbridge near the MTR station.  Photo: David Wong

Members of Local League protest against parallel trading outside Sheung Shui MTR Station in Sheung Shui. Photo: David Wong

About 150 people marched along streets lined with pharmacies and shops which mainly cater to mainland visitors who travel to Hong Kong to buy daily necessities. Photo: David Wong

A protester walks along the road with a banner reading “restore Sheung Shui, fend off for our city.” Police presence was heavy with a ratio of at least one police officer to each protester. Photo: David Wong

A protester carrying a Hong Kong colonial flag marches during a demonstration against mainland traders, near the border at Sheung Shui in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters 

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