An interdepartmental meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Secretary Cheuk Wing-hing was held today to plan ahead and guard against the re-emergence of problems arising from parallel trading activities in anticipation of the resumption of normal travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland.

The Government has all along been concerned about the nuisance caused by parallel trading activities to local residents' daily lives and its impact on environmental hygiene. Law enforcement departments will take stringent action against those who breach the regulations, be they Hong Kong residents or visitors.

The departments will keep an eye on parallel trading black spots, especially in North District, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun, and take appropriate action based on actual circumstances.

Among them, Customs will step up enforcement at boundary control points to inspect whether outbound travellers export controlled drugs, and maintain close contact with the Shenzhen authorities to put more effort into investigation and enforcement against parallel trading activities.

The Immigration Department (ImmD) will establish a watch list for identifying suspected parallel traders and subject them to examination. If such people's purpose of visiting Hong Kong is in doubt, the department will refuse them entry and repatriate them immediately.

The ImmD and Police will also conduct joint enforcement operations to arrest visitors suspected of contravening conditions of stay by involving in parallel trading activities.

Moreover, Police and the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department will closely monitor black spots for parallel trading and step up patrols and enforcement against obstruction in public places by vendors and parallel traders.

Regarding the recent episodes of people scrambling for pain and fever relief medicines, the Government pointed out that there are over 750 registered drugs containing paracetamol for people to purchase. The Department of Health has uploaded a list of registered drugs for the public to check online whether their desired paracetamol is under registration.

The paracetamol that the Hospital Authority has reserved is currently adequate to meet the demand of local patients who seek medical consultations in public hospitals.

The Government said it will continue to closely monitor the supply of medicines containing paracetamol, adding that it does not rule out the possibility of imposing restrictions on the purchase and sale of such medicines if necessary, so as to further ensure that people in need can purchase relevant medicines. It also urged all licensed drug dealers not to stockpile these medicines.