Mainland customs measures agreed for Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s government announced yet more landmark wine developments yesterday, including an agreement on mainland customs measures for wines exported from the city.

During the opening speech at the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, HKSAR’s finance secretary John Tsang said: “Our goal is to establish Hong Kong as a wine trade and distribution centre; so far so good but we still have a long way to go.”

Continuing Tsang added: “We need to uncork the potential in the mainland too so we have just reached an agreement with the mainland customs to provide customs facilitation measures for wine exported from Hong Kong to the mainland.

“The value of wine imports to Hong Kong has jumped 80% year-on-year to HK$2.9 billion, and in the first eight months of this year, import value reached $2.3bn, which is a 42% increase year-on-year.”

As a further incentive to boost Hong Kong’s wine credentials, Tsang also announced the launch of the government’s accreditation scheme for storage facilities in order to preserve the value of fine wine as an investment asset, adding that the scheme is likely to be rolled out by the end of this year.

The scheme is welcomed by Gregory De’eb from storage facility Crown Cellars in Hong Kong. He said: “17% of all rare and fine stocks in the world are in Hong Kong. People say there’s no fine wine storage in Hong Kong but it’s just not true. People are starting to bring their wine back here now, I’ve just taken my first Irish consignment.”

As well as Tsang’s presence at the fair, yet more government support for the second year of the exhibition was provided by the presence of Yvonne Choi, secretary for commerce and economic development, who gave the keynote speech at the fair’s seminar entitled Asian Wine Hub.

She said: “Hong Kong has fostered a conducive environment for wine trading,” adding that the government has “stepped up its wine promotion through agencies such as the Trade Development Council, Invest Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.”

Tsang concluded his opening speech by outlining the measures Hong Kong has already put in place during the last 20 months, including the abolition of taxes, performing agreements with major wine producing regions around the world and the opening of new storage facilities in Hong Kong.

Jane Parkinson reporting from Hong Kong, 05.11.2009