By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
HONG KONG, China – Ten individuals were arrested in Hong Kong for attempting to smuggle baby formula past customs out of the island territory and into mainland China.
The Hong Kong government recently passed a new regulation which restricted the amount of baby formula travelers were allowed to take out of Hong Kong and into mainland China. The regulation only allows travelers to take 1.8 kilograms (about 4 pounds) of formula through customs.
The individuals who were placed under arrest were both Hong Kong citizens and mainland Chinese citizens. The smugglers were caught with a total of 53 cans of baby formula. One man was attempting to smuggle 15 cans through customs by himself.
Under the new regulation, individuals caught with more than the allowed 1.8 kilograms of milk powder can face fines of up to 500,000 Hong Kong dollars (equivalent to about $65,000 U.S.). Additionally, smugglers could also be subjected to up to two years in jail.
Travelers are taking the extreme risk of smuggling the baby formula out of Hong Kong and into mainland China because of the recent milk powder scandals that have been rampant in mainland China. The most infamous of these scandals happened in 2008 when six infants died after ingesting milk which contained traces of the industrial chemical melamine.
Due to the high demand of baby formula from mainland Chinese citizens, Hong Kong has been experience severe shortages causing extreme tensions between the island territory and Beijing. Hong Kong citizens have been having a hard time obtaining baby formula for their own children.
Hong Kong resident, Bruce Lui, says that every morning, parents are lined up outside shops and pharmacies for the opportunity to purchase formula. Some are lucky if they can get even one can to feed their hungry infants.
Lui says that he walks from neighborhood to neighborhood attempting to hunt down the precious baby formula. Sometimes he must walk through at least ten pharmacies and shops before he can get his hands on one can. Other times, he is unlucky and comes home empty handed.
Adding to the distress of local Hong Kong parents, some shops and pharmacies will not sell to locals because they know that they can obtain higher profits from selling exclusively to mainlanders desperate for safe formula. Some mainland Chinese parents are willing to pay up to 50 percent above retail for cans of powdered baby formula.
Proponents of the new regulation hope that the new law will help prevent shortages like one that happened last month in Hong Kong when stores sold out of the most popular brands of baby formula.
For further information, please see:
Shanghai Daily – 10 caught flouting Hong Kong’s new infant formula rule – 2 March 2013
Yahoo News Philippines – Hong Kong cracks down on baby formula trade – 2 March 2013
BBC – Ten arrested in Hong Kong over baby milk formula curbs – 1 March 2013
The Sunday Times – Hong Kong limits export of baby formula after furore – 1 March 2013
