2011-06-08 18:40:48 Xinhua Web Editor: Zhangjin
All illicit cigarettes seized by the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department are destroyed and cannot be retrieved for reuse, the city’s Acting Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Julia Leung said Wednesday.
Leung told local lawmakers Wednesday that confiscated cigarettes have not been sold since 1999. They are forfeited upon court order, or on the condition no legal claim is made, according to the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance.
Between 2002 and April this year, the department has forfeited 993 million cigarettes, of which 85 percent have been destroyed without any auctions. Destruction of the remainder is pending.
The department disposes of cigarettes at landfills, upon Environmental Protection Department approval.