Operations Review -
Regulatory Services
Mr Poon Kwok-ying, Raymond, JP
Deputy Director/
Regulatory Services, EMSD
Regulatory Services, EMSD
The year 2021/22 has been a fruitful one for the Regulatory Services of, with many milestones reached despite the serious impact of the fifth wave of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic in early 2022. In this overview, we highlight our achievements and future plans in six areas of strategic importance to the Regulatory Services.
The Regulatory Services remained as committed as ever to supporting the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in fighting the epidemic during the year. Our work included helping to set up community isolation and treatment facilities, carrying out “restriction-testing declaration” (RTD) operations and supporting outbreak-related investigations, all in close co-operation with colleagues from the Trading Services and other government departments. Indeed, “serving with one heart and mutual support” is at the core of everything we do. We believe that empathy is crucial not only in fighting the epidemic but also in delivering effective regulatory solutions that satisfy the genuine needs of the public.
As at March 2022, the Regulatory Services initially launched 45 online registration application services and more than 150 e-forms and eight “digital E&M licences” with anti-forgery Dynamic Code features have also been launched in June 2022. Our digital tools are well received by the electrical and mechanical (E&M) trade as they help save time and cost while reducing the risk of infection in the epidemic.
We also incentivise regulatees to use I&T to elevate their safety performance. As the regulator, we have gone the extra mile by initiating various I&T projects to show regulatees how their operational safety can be improved via smart technology and to drive them to do more. We also aim to set a good example to encourage businesses and manufacturers to pursue more projects that capture the potential of I&T to enhance safety of the industries.
A case in point is the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), where continuous safety improvements can benefit millions of railway passengers. We initiated a joint I&T forum with the MTRCL in 2021 to discuss the use of smart technologies such as real-time railway system monitoring for enhancing railway maintenance quality and improved operational safety.
Over time, the forum has evolved into innovation summits held regularly between senior personnel from our Railways Branch and the MTRCL to exchange I&T know-how and experience. Both sides have also collaborated on various pilot projects, including an artificial intelligence (AI) solution for predictive maintenance of railway track systems and a Light Detection and Ranging solution for real-time monitoring of track area and intrusion objects. Having regard to the impressive results of the I&T forum, we are exploring the potential of emulating it with other utility companies.
Funding secured from the TechConnect (Block Vote) of the Government further enables us to develop I&T projects, conduct research and development, and produce prototypes jointly with start-ups and research institutions, with the aim of enhancing public safety. A good example is the Intelligent Digital Escalator Monitoring System (iDEMS) we developed with a start-up, which makes use of improved escalator comb plates, optical fibre sensors, RFID and cloud computing technologies to perform intelligent real-time escalator safety monitoring and predictive maintenance. Having won a gold medal at the 2022 International Exhibition of Innovations of Geneva, the system has been trialled successfully on 15 escalators at various government and private sector venues, including the Central to Mid-levels Escalator and Walkway System, with zero incident due to equipment failure during the trial period.
Indeed, the iDEMS is an enhanced version of another Regulatory Services project namely Artificial Intelligent Nylon Optical Fibre Sensing Escalator Combs, which also won a gold medal at the Geneva competition in 2021. We welcome regulatees and the E&M industry to adopt these and our other TechConnect-funded projects in their operation.
With our Energy Efficiency Office (EEO) and its rich experience in energy efficiency and conservation, we are duty bound and well positioned to support the Government’s works to achieve carbon neutrality. Indeed, the EMSD is a member of the inter-departmental Steering Committee on Climate Change and Carbon Neutrality chaired by the Chief Executive. We have been providing input on strategies, like the wider use of renewable energy, as well as professional support on issues such as risk mitigation measures for critical infrastructure in coastal areas vulnerable to super typhoons and other extreme weather events.
Exploring the use of new zero carbon energy is an important aspect of our carbon neutrality work. With solid experience in regulating gas safety, our Gas Standards Office (GasSO) has been participating in a Carbon Neutrality Task Force under the Environment and Ecology Bureau to promote the use of clean fuels and to assist in a feasibility study on using hydrogen as fuel for buses and heavy vehicles in Hong Kong.
As the existing legislation in Hong Kong does not cover the use of hydrogen as fuel, we have set up an internal hydrogen working group to conduct the relevant risk assessment of the hydrogen supply chain, formulate the draft of safety standards, look into ways to amend existing legislation to set up a regulatory regime, as well as studying how to tackle the regulatory issue regarding cross-boundary hydrogen-fuelled freight vehicles. A 12-month test of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles including buses, heavy vehicles and refuse collection vehicles is planned to be conducted at the end of 2023. The GasSO has already set up two new teams for these tasks.
We also focus on another aspect of our decarbonisation work, which is taking more ambitious steps to further enhance the energy performance of buildings, in particular commercial buildings. Only with strengthened measures will commercial buildings be able to meet the target of reducing electricity consumption by 15 to 20% by 2035 compared with 2015, and 30 to 40% subsequently, as proposed in the Climate Action Plan 2050.
During the year, the EEO reviewed the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (BEEO) to consider measures such as legislative amendments to require commercial buildings to implement measures regarding energy management opportunities identified in mandatory energy audits conducted at 10-year intervals to enhance energy performance of the buildings. Other measures being studied to enhance the energy performance of buildings include more frequent energy audits and mandatory disclosure of the building-based Energy Utilisation Index. We are also considering the prohibition of sales of prescribed appliances below a minimum energy efficiency performance rating. This means products at or below a specific grade under the Mandatory Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme might not be allowed to be put on sale in Hong Kong.
The third aspect of our decarbonisation work involves optimising the performance of District Cooling Systems (DCSs). As the EEO plans and builds more DCSs in new development areas such as Tung Chung New Town Extension (East), Kwu Tung North and Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen, we continue to accumulate operational experience and augment energy performance data of the DCS at the Kai Tak Development Area. The focus is to explore opportunity on wider use of AI and big data analytics solutions for continuing energy optimisation of operation of DCS plants.
However, to draw a medical analogy, an absence of symptoms does not necessarily indicate wellness. Recent incidents, such as the tragic death of an elderly passenger after being unconscious for hours in a lavatory in an MTR station and the CLP cable bridge fire in Yuen Long, are timely reminders that we must stay alert to risks even where incidents seem very unlikely or have not happened for many years. We must enhance our risk sensitivity to pre-empt any unexpected incident.
It is in this spirit that we introduced a number of new initiatives during the year, including the promotion of installation of centralised LPG supply systems for shared use at village houses. Currently, LPG users living in village houses mostly order their own LPG cylinders, and each user keeps their own reserve cylinders. This may lead to excessive storage and induce unnecessary risks if too many LPG cylinders are aggregately stored by multiple users.
We are now advocating the use of centralised LPG supply systems after conducting a sample survey on gas usage needs and practices of over 3 800 village houses in 34 villages during the year. We also took the opportunity to explain to households of village houses the benefits of the new system, which is more convenient for residents and can also help prevent LPG wastage arising from replacement of LPG cylinders before gas is exhausted. We shall further promote centralised LPG supply systems to newly built village houses next year. This exemplified our proactive approach to enhance safety as we took the initiative to promote new measures even though no incident has happened due to LPG cylinder storage at village houses.
Besides, we will continue to leverage internal events in 2022/23, such as a proposal competition on “Prevention Culture” under the “Staff Motivation Scheme”, to encourage staff to come up with new ideas on how we can prevent incidents in our own operations, as well as for the trade and the public. The competition aims to encourage staff and indeed everyone to speak out when they sense something may go wrong, especially after near-miss events, which will go a long way towards nipping risks in the bud.
As a result of the joint effort, the HKIE matched practitioners’ skills and knowledge in lift/escalator works with the HKIE’s competency requirements and released in January 2022 two sets of guidance notes, providing a clear pathway for trade practitioners to become an RPE by obtaining the HKIE’s corporate membership first, and after that one year of post-qualification local work experience. This is an important milestone in enhancing the professional status of REs, which is beneficial to the long-term development of the lift/escalator industry. We have been actively promoting the guidance notes to practitioners and engineering graduates via seminars and other trade publicity.
Another initiative to be launched in 2022/23 is the introduction of a new registration card for Registered Gas Installers (RGIs), a measure that will enable the GasSO to update RGI records in a timely manner and then every five years upon card replacement without having to amend the existing legislation. The replacement of new card is voluntary and free of charge. An RGI can also apply for a digital E&M licence which contains a dynamic QR code for anti-forgery purposes, where members of the public can scan the QR code to verify the registration information of the RGI. The trade is excited about the new service and we expect a good response when it is launched. Concurrently, the GasSO will also introduce a new voluntary CPD scheme in the next year to help RGIs enhance their professional and technical knowledge.
On renewable energy, another exciting development was that we developed a STEAM learning kit for primary schools participating in the Solar Harvest scheme. With its production completed in 2021/22 for schools to use in the 2022/23 academic year, the kit aims to help students better understand renewable energy through interactive learning and inspire their interest in clean energy and a low-carbon lifestyle.
The Education Bureau (EDB) has also joined us in the production of the educational kit by enriching its content and aligning it with the general studies curriculum guide for primary schools. We are delighted by the opportunity that the Solar Harvest educational kit would have an opportunity to be included in the primary school curriculum, as the stamp of approval of the EDB will boost the impact of the kit on students.
These are just some examples of our approach of “serving with one heart and mutual support” in helping the trade build capacity and competency, enhance its professional qualifications and gain recognition. Indeed, President Xi Jinping remarked in his recent speech marking the 25th anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July that “we must help young people with their difficulties in studies, employment, entrepreneurship, and purchasing of housing” and that “Hong Kong will prosper only when its young people achieve well-rounded development”. In this spirit, we shall continue to engage with our young people and facilitate their development and upward mobility in the E&M industry.
We also conducted two APEC-funded projects, one to study the key success factors of energy intensity reduction in seven urbanised cities in APEC, including Hong Kong, and the other to study Retro-commissioning (RCx) capacity building. This was no small feat as competition was keen and the APEC’s expectation on the project quality was very high.
The Regulatory Services has long been cooperating with our Mainland counterparts over the year, most notably through our long-standing partnership with the General Administration of Customs China (GACC). Among our successful cooperation is a well-proven notification mechanism to identify and follow-up on non-compliant electrical and gas appliances imported to Hong Kong.
In 2021/22, we worked with the Shenzhen Customs and Gongbei Customs to set up an institutional cooperation online platform to closely monitor the quality of LPG supplied from Guangdong to Hong Kong. We also established a gas safety communication platform with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Management during the year.
The EEO is also working with the GACC and China National Institute of Standardisation on mutual recognition of technical assessment requirements and grading principles for energy labels used on the Mainland and Hong Kong. Besides, the General Legislation Division has taken part in the research for a reference document entitled “Rules for Safety Assessment of Lifts in Use – Traction Lifts”, part of a collection being compiled by the Guangdong Institute of Special Equipment Inspection and Research for the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Our Mainland and overseas engagement efforts are consistent with one of the Regulatory Services’ strategic directions, which is “to integrate proactively into the Greater Bay Area and national development as well as participating in international collaboration”. This also echoes President Xi’s speech delivered on 1 July in which he mentioned that Hong Kong was “proactively integrating itself into the country’s overall development and carving out its role in national strategies”.
Upon the resumption of normal travel between the Mainland and Hong Kong when the epidemic eases, we will reactivate face-to-face exchanges and training. We will also accord priority to visiting the hydrogen facilities in nearby Guangdong, as well as Beijing and Shanghai to learn more about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and the related infrastructure systems.
We would also like to expedite progress in our work on the safe use of hydrogen as fuel, initiate more ambitious carbon neutrality measures, and encourage the trade to keep using our e-licensing and digitalised services even after the epidemic subsides.
With numerous challenges under the epidemic in the past year, we wish to thank all our staff for their excellent service, in particular in carrying out myriad anti-epidemic tasks. We also thank the policy bureaux and other government departments for their guidance and cooperation, and our regulatees for their great efforts. As always, we must thank our trade partners, academia, professional bodies, NGOs, training and research institutions and the public for their support. We are also grateful to our cooperation partners on the Mainland and overseas for their collaboration and experience sharing.
With clear objectives and strong support from all stakeholders, we anticipate another year of progress and accomplishment for the Regulatory Services.
Raymond Poon Kwok-ying
The Regulatory Services remained as committed as ever to supporting the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in fighting the epidemic during the year. Our work included helping to set up community isolation and treatment facilities, carrying out “restriction-testing declaration” (RTD) operations and supporting outbreak-related investigations, all in close co-operation with colleagues from the Trading Services and other government departments. Indeed, “serving with one heart and mutual support” is at the core of everything we do. We believe that empathy is crucial not only in fighting the epidemic but also in delivering effective regulatory solutions that satisfy the genuine needs of the public.
DIGITALISATION AND I&T: KEYS TO THE FUTURE
In an age when innovation and technology (I&T) are the keys to unlocking a bright future, the Regulatory Services is moving in pace with the time to digitalise our regulatory operations and services. In the year, we introduced an array of new services, including mobile apps, online registration services, e-forms and online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses and platforms to provide efficient services for the trade, tying in with the “Be the Smart Regulator” and “Streamlining of Government Services” programmes of the Government as well as playing the role of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) as the Government’s Innovation Facilitator.As at March 2022, the Regulatory Services initially launched 45 online registration application services and more than 150 e-forms and eight “digital E&M licences” with anti-forgery Dynamic Code features have also been launched in June 2022. Our digital tools are well received by the electrical and mechanical (E&M) trade as they help save time and cost while reducing the risk of infection in the epidemic.
We also incentivise regulatees to use I&T to elevate their safety performance. As the regulator, we have gone the extra mile by initiating various I&T projects to show regulatees how their operational safety can be improved via smart technology and to drive them to do more. We also aim to set a good example to encourage businesses and manufacturers to pursue more projects that capture the potential of I&T to enhance safety of the industries.
A case in point is the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), where continuous safety improvements can benefit millions of railway passengers. We initiated a joint I&T forum with the MTRCL in 2021 to discuss the use of smart technologies such as real-time railway system monitoring for enhancing railway maintenance quality and improved operational safety.
Over time, the forum has evolved into innovation summits held regularly between senior personnel from our Railways Branch and the MTRCL to exchange I&T know-how and experience. Both sides have also collaborated on various pilot projects, including an artificial intelligence (AI) solution for predictive maintenance of railway track systems and a Light Detection and Ranging solution for real-time monitoring of track area and intrusion objects. Having regard to the impressive results of the I&T forum, we are exploring the potential of emulating it with other utility companies.
Funding secured from the TechConnect (Block Vote) of the Government further enables us to develop I&T projects, conduct research and development, and produce prototypes jointly with start-ups and research institutions, with the aim of enhancing public safety. A good example is the Intelligent Digital Escalator Monitoring System (iDEMS) we developed with a start-up, which makes use of improved escalator comb plates, optical fibre sensors, RFID and cloud computing technologies to perform intelligent real-time escalator safety monitoring and predictive maintenance. Having won a gold medal at the 2022 International Exhibition of Innovations of Geneva, the system has been trialled successfully on 15 escalators at various government and private sector venues, including the Central to Mid-levels Escalator and Walkway System, with zero incident due to equipment failure during the trial period.
Indeed, the iDEMS is an enhanced version of another Regulatory Services project namely Artificial Intelligent Nylon Optical Fibre Sensing Escalator Combs, which also won a gold medal at the Geneva competition in 2021. We welcome regulatees and the E&M industry to adopt these and our other TechConnect-funded projects in their operation.
MORE AMBITIOUS STEPS TOWARDS CARBON NEUTRALITY
Climate change is a pressing global issue having serious implications on weather and every aspect of life. In October 2021, the Government published Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050, laying out a vision for “Zero-carbon Emissions • Liveable City • Sustainable Development” and outlining strategies and measures to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050, as pledged by the Chief Executive in her 2020 Policy Address.With our Energy Efficiency Office (EEO) and its rich experience in energy efficiency and conservation, we are duty bound and well positioned to support the Government’s works to achieve carbon neutrality. Indeed, the EMSD is a member of the inter-departmental Steering Committee on Climate Change and Carbon Neutrality chaired by the Chief Executive. We have been providing input on strategies, like the wider use of renewable energy, as well as professional support on issues such as risk mitigation measures for critical infrastructure in coastal areas vulnerable to super typhoons and other extreme weather events.
Exploring the use of new zero carbon energy is an important aspect of our carbon neutrality work. With solid experience in regulating gas safety, our Gas Standards Office (GasSO) has been participating in a Carbon Neutrality Task Force under the Environment and Ecology Bureau to promote the use of clean fuels and to assist in a feasibility study on using hydrogen as fuel for buses and heavy vehicles in Hong Kong.
As the existing legislation in Hong Kong does not cover the use of hydrogen as fuel, we have set up an internal hydrogen working group to conduct the relevant risk assessment of the hydrogen supply chain, formulate the draft of safety standards, look into ways to amend existing legislation to set up a regulatory regime, as well as studying how to tackle the regulatory issue regarding cross-boundary hydrogen-fuelled freight vehicles. A 12-month test of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles including buses, heavy vehicles and refuse collection vehicles is planned to be conducted at the end of 2023. The GasSO has already set up two new teams for these tasks.
We also focus on another aspect of our decarbonisation work, which is taking more ambitious steps to further enhance the energy performance of buildings, in particular commercial buildings. Only with strengthened measures will commercial buildings be able to meet the target of reducing electricity consumption by 15 to 20% by 2035 compared with 2015, and 30 to 40% subsequently, as proposed in the Climate Action Plan 2050.
During the year, the EEO reviewed the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (BEEO) to consider measures such as legislative amendments to require commercial buildings to implement measures regarding energy management opportunities identified in mandatory energy audits conducted at 10-year intervals to enhance energy performance of the buildings. Other measures being studied to enhance the energy performance of buildings include more frequent energy audits and mandatory disclosure of the building-based Energy Utilisation Index. We are also considering the prohibition of sales of prescribed appliances below a minimum energy efficiency performance rating. This means products at or below a specific grade under the Mandatory Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme might not be allowed to be put on sale in Hong Kong.
The third aspect of our decarbonisation work involves optimising the performance of District Cooling Systems (DCSs). As the EEO plans and builds more DCSs in new development areas such as Tung Chung New Town Extension (East), Kwu Tung North and Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen, we continue to accumulate operational experience and augment energy performance data of the DCS at the Kai Tak Development Area. The focus is to explore opportunity on wider use of AI and big data analytics solutions for continuing energy optimisation of operation of DCS plants.
DEEPENING OUR CULTURE OF PREVENTION
As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. It is no exception when it comes to E&M safety. The Regulatory Services has always endeavoured to foster a culture of prevention or “curing diseases before they arise”, via a multi-pronged approach, which included conducting risk-based inspections, publicity and public education, as well as proactively stepping up focused safety checks of E&M facilities where necessary. These efforts continued to yield positive results. The numbers of most types of E&M incidents remained stable or slightly declined during the year, including a record low of 176 gas incidents in 2021, down from 179 in 2020.However, to draw a medical analogy, an absence of symptoms does not necessarily indicate wellness. Recent incidents, such as the tragic death of an elderly passenger after being unconscious for hours in a lavatory in an MTR station and the CLP cable bridge fire in Yuen Long, are timely reminders that we must stay alert to risks even where incidents seem very unlikely or have not happened for many years. We must enhance our risk sensitivity to pre-empt any unexpected incident.
It is in this spirit that we introduced a number of new initiatives during the year, including the promotion of installation of centralised LPG supply systems for shared use at village houses. Currently, LPG users living in village houses mostly order their own LPG cylinders, and each user keeps their own reserve cylinders. This may lead to excessive storage and induce unnecessary risks if too many LPG cylinders are aggregately stored by multiple users.
We are now advocating the use of centralised LPG supply systems after conducting a sample survey on gas usage needs and practices of over 3 800 village houses in 34 villages during the year. We also took the opportunity to explain to households of village houses the benefits of the new system, which is more convenient for residents and can also help prevent LPG wastage arising from replacement of LPG cylinders before gas is exhausted. We shall further promote centralised LPG supply systems to newly built village houses next year. This exemplified our proactive approach to enhance safety as we took the initiative to promote new measures even though no incident has happened due to LPG cylinder storage at village houses.
Besides, we will continue to leverage internal events in 2022/23, such as a proposal competition on “Prevention Culture” under the “Staff Motivation Scheme”, to encourage staff to come up with new ideas on how we can prevent incidents in our own operations, as well as for the trade and the public. The competition aims to encourage staff and indeed everyone to speak out when they sense something may go wrong, especially after near-miss events, which will go a long way towards nipping risks in the bud.
NEW BLOOD AND GREATER RECOGNITION FOR THE E&M TRADE
Nurturing new blood and improving the progression pathways of practitioners are vital to the future of the E&M industry. Apart from our ongoing youth engagement activities to attract more young people to join the trade, an achievement in 2021 was the progress made towards the provision of means for Registered Engineers (REs) in the lift/escalator industry to achieve the qualification of a Registered Professional Engineer (RPE) under the Engineers Registration Ordinance (Cap. 409) through our joint effort with the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE).As a result of the joint effort, the HKIE matched practitioners’ skills and knowledge in lift/escalator works with the HKIE’s competency requirements and released in January 2022 two sets of guidance notes, providing a clear pathway for trade practitioners to become an RPE by obtaining the HKIE’s corporate membership first, and after that one year of post-qualification local work experience. This is an important milestone in enhancing the professional status of REs, which is beneficial to the long-term development of the lift/escalator industry. We have been actively promoting the guidance notes to practitioners and engineering graduates via seminars and other trade publicity.
Another initiative to be launched in 2022/23 is the introduction of a new registration card for Registered Gas Installers (RGIs), a measure that will enable the GasSO to update RGI records in a timely manner and then every five years upon card replacement without having to amend the existing legislation. The replacement of new card is voluntary and free of charge. An RGI can also apply for a digital E&M licence which contains a dynamic QR code for anti-forgery purposes, where members of the public can scan the QR code to verify the registration information of the RGI. The trade is excited about the new service and we expect a good response when it is launched. Concurrently, the GasSO will also introduce a new voluntary CPD scheme in the next year to help RGIs enhance their professional and technical knowledge.
On renewable energy, another exciting development was that we developed a STEAM learning kit for primary schools participating in the Solar Harvest scheme. With its production completed in 2021/22 for schools to use in the 2022/23 academic year, the kit aims to help students better understand renewable energy through interactive learning and inspire their interest in clean energy and a low-carbon lifestyle.
The Education Bureau (EDB) has also joined us in the production of the educational kit by enriching its content and aligning it with the general studies curriculum guide for primary schools. We are delighted by the opportunity that the Solar Harvest educational kit would have an opportunity to be included in the primary school curriculum, as the stamp of approval of the EDB will boost the impact of the kit on students.
These are just some examples of our approach of “serving with one heart and mutual support” in helping the trade build capacity and competency, enhance its professional qualifications and gain recognition. Indeed, President Xi Jinping remarked in his recent speech marking the 25th anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July that “we must help young people with their difficulties in studies, employment, entrepreneurship, and purchasing of housing” and that “Hong Kong will prosper only when its young people achieve well-rounded development”. In this spirit, we shall continue to engage with our young people and facilitate their development and upward mobility in the E&M industry.
MILESTONES ON MAINLAND AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
We achieved a milestone in international cooperation in 2021/22 as two senior EMSD officials were elected as leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Working Group (EWG) for 2021-2023, including the EWG Deputy Lead Shepherd and Chairman of the APEC Expert Group on Energy Efficiency and Conservation respectively. As they are representatives of Hong Kong, their representation in the EWG will help enhance Hong Kong’s profile in energy conservation work in the region and underscore its contribution.We also conducted two APEC-funded projects, one to study the key success factors of energy intensity reduction in seven urbanised cities in APEC, including Hong Kong, and the other to study Retro-commissioning (RCx) capacity building. This was no small feat as competition was keen and the APEC’s expectation on the project quality was very high.
The Regulatory Services has long been cooperating with our Mainland counterparts over the year, most notably through our long-standing partnership with the General Administration of Customs China (GACC). Among our successful cooperation is a well-proven notification mechanism to identify and follow-up on non-compliant electrical and gas appliances imported to Hong Kong.
In 2021/22, we worked with the Shenzhen Customs and Gongbei Customs to set up an institutional cooperation online platform to closely monitor the quality of LPG supplied from Guangdong to Hong Kong. We also established a gas safety communication platform with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Management during the year.
The EEO is also working with the GACC and China National Institute of Standardisation on mutual recognition of technical assessment requirements and grading principles for energy labels used on the Mainland and Hong Kong. Besides, the General Legislation Division has taken part in the research for a reference document entitled “Rules for Safety Assessment of Lifts in Use – Traction Lifts”, part of a collection being compiled by the Guangdong Institute of Special Equipment Inspection and Research for the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Our Mainland and overseas engagement efforts are consistent with one of the Regulatory Services’ strategic directions, which is “to integrate proactively into the Greater Bay Area and national development as well as participating in international collaboration”. This also echoes President Xi’s speech delivered on 1 July in which he mentioned that Hong Kong was “proactively integrating itself into the country’s overall development and carving out its role in national strategies”.
Upon the resumption of normal travel between the Mainland and Hong Kong when the epidemic eases, we will reactivate face-to-face exchanges and training. We will also accord priority to visiting the hydrogen facilities in nearby Guangdong, as well as Beijing and Shanghai to learn more about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and the related infrastructure systems.
SERVING WITH ONE HEART AND MUTUAL SUPPORT
Caring for the safety and wellbeing of the public is a common thread weaving through all Regulatory Services activities, be they anti-epidemic support, day-to-day regulatory work, I&T projects or stakeholder engagement locally and overseas. Also worth-mentioning is the EMSD’s annual Good People Good Deeds Commendation Scheme, which recognises staff who have performed inspiring deeds and served the community enthusiastically. It would foster a caring culture that attaches importance to the people and social service.THE YEAR AHEAD
As the Government’s Innovation Facilitator, we are planning to publish the Regulatory Services’ Vision, Mission and Values statement in 2022/23 with highlight on the importance of innovation. We will also introduce new initiatives to encourage I&T development, streamline workflow processes, support work related to the recent government restructuring, strive towards carbon neutrality and strengthen GBA ties.We would also like to expedite progress in our work on the safe use of hydrogen as fuel, initiate more ambitious carbon neutrality measures, and encourage the trade to keep using our e-licensing and digitalised services even after the epidemic subsides.
With numerous challenges under the epidemic in the past year, we wish to thank all our staff for their excellent service, in particular in carrying out myriad anti-epidemic tasks. We also thank the policy bureaux and other government departments for their guidance and cooperation, and our regulatees for their great efforts. As always, we must thank our trade partners, academia, professional bodies, NGOs, training and research institutions and the public for their support. We are also grateful to our cooperation partners on the Mainland and overseas for their collaboration and experience sharing.
With clear objectives and strong support from all stakeholders, we anticipate another year of progress and accomplishment for the Regulatory Services.
Raymond Poon Kwok-ying
Deputy Director/Regulatory Services, EMSD
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