Tougher penalties the only long-term solution to stop parallel traders, say concern groups

The crackdown on parallel traders in Sheung Shui has led to tidier streets in the border town, but concern groups say the buyers always return and the only long-term solution is harsher penalties and stricter enforcement.

When Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor visited yesterday, the trading black spot of Hong Chai Street seemed orderly. A day earlier, she had chaired an interdepartmental meeting at which she was told of a sharp rise in prosecutions of traders in the year's first quarter.

The police issued more than 4,100 fixed penalty notices for street obstructions in New Territories North, which was six times more than the 600 issued last year. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department also stepped up prosecutions related to cleanliness and obstruction.

North District Parallel Imports Concern Group spokesman Leung Kam-shing admitted Sheung Shui was indeed tidier this weekend. But parallel traders usually returned two weeks after large-scale operations, he said.

Leung said the problem was that fines were too small to deter traders and they also take advantage of police leniency.

"Officers usually warn parallel traders they will be prosecuted if they do not move. Then the traders move to another spot and continue what they were doing," he said. A more effective deterrent would be for police to prosecute without warning, he said.