Make HK a hard liquor trading centre, says lawmaker
DAB lawmaker Kennedy Wong says Hong Kong should scrap its 100 percent levy on strong alcohol so it can match the wine industry and become an international trading centre for hard liquor.  Speaking on RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme, Wong said the wine trade had boomed since duty was scrapped in 2008 and revenue from sales of alcohol with a strength of over 30 percent was only HK$700 million. He also said Hong Kong needs to compete with Hainan, which will be tax free by the end of this year. "I look at this issue from a trade perspective. If we don't lower or scrap the duty we are already losing out to Macau and the surrounding areas and at the end of this year, when Hainan turns into a free trade zone, a lot of the whisky, brandy promotions - because they are all aimed at the mainland China market - they'll all move to Hainan. Hard liquor from mainland China, like the Moutai, the Wuliangyee, they won't use Hong Kong to tap the international market, they might as well use Hainan," he said. Wong said Hong Kong had the highest liquor duty in the region with Macau only charging 10 percent. He said Hong Kong also charged more than Taiwan and Japan, although the duty here was about the same as South Korea. He said Hainan, which caters mainly to the mainland domestic tourist market, had been declared a tax free area by the State Council in Beijing. Wong said if Hong Kong followed the same route as the wine trade here, it could be an attractive place for companies wanting to sell top-of-the range hard liquor. "You scrapped the duty so a lot of aged or vintage wine moved to Hong Kong and because Hong Kong also had first-class storage facilities - and because of our close proximity to the mainland China market, which is a big, big market you know for the wine industry - a lot of wine merchants created off-shoots here including a lot of French vineyards, chateaux that I know," he said. "So I think likewise for liquor: for vodka, for whisky, for brandy, for the Moutai and so on. If they all create more trading companies here and then they are willing to move some of their vintage - the nice liquor - to Hong Kong, then Hong Kong will gradually climb back to the top of the world in this particular field." Last month the DAB called on the Chief Executive John Lee to scrap the duty on hard liquor as part of its proposals for Lee's upcoming policy address.