HK, Guangdong Customs to Further Co-operationHeads of Hong Kong and Guangdong customs said Tuesday that the two sides will further co-operation in combating smuggling and trafficking of drugs, intelligence exchange, and property rights protection.The Guangdong delegation, headed by Director-General Sun Songpu, was in Hong Kong for the 2001 Annual Review Meeting with the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department between August 29 and September 3. At the meeting, both sides reviewed the achievements of their collaboration in the past year and exchanged proposals for strengthening co-operation in the coming year. Both sides agreed to improve co-operation in intellectual property rights protection, and to keep on mounting parallel operations at sea and at the land-boundary check points with a view to curbing smuggling and trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances. They also agreed to organize training and study visits, to strengthen liaison through the land-boundary hotlines, to convene ad hoc anti-smuggling expert group meetings, and to set up a panel to explore ways of expediting land-boundary clearance. During the past year, the two administrations achieved considerable success in anti-smuggling work, in particular in the fight against cross-boundary smuggling of drugs. The two sides, by way of joint operations, thwarted a spate of attempts by drug syndicates to smuggle cannabis from Thailand using express air parcels. The two also exchanged training programs and organized a sports-cum-recreation function to further expand the scope of co-operation. |
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