Hong Kong Compulsory Quarantine Exemption Application Service
The Government published in the Gazette on February 7, 2020 about the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation and the Prevention and Control of Disease (Disclosure of Information) Regulation to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus infection with resolute and stringent measures, so as to reduce cross-boundary people flow. The specific measures include:
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Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation
All persons having stayed in the Mainland for any period during the 14 days preceding arrival in Hong Kong, regardless of nationality and travel documents used, will be subject to compulsory quarantine for 14 days.
To ensure sufficient supply of supplies and food in Hong Kong, the Chief Secretary for Administration will, according to the Regulation, exempt certain categories of people from the quarantine requirement. The exemption is applicable to the following four categories of people –
(1)
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supplying goods or services required for the normal operation of Hong Kong or the daily needs of the people in Hong Kong;
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(2)
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for governmental operation;
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(3)
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for the protection of the safety or health of the people of Hong Kong or the handling of public health emergency; or
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(4)
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cases of exceptional circumstance that serves the public interest of Hong Kong.
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Contravening the quarantine requirement would be a criminal offence. Offenders are subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months.
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Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation
A health officer will be empowered to require a person to disclose or furnish any information relevant to the handling of a state of the public health emergency, such as travel history. The relevant power is extended to other medical practitioners who would have encountered with a person involved in such public health emergency. It would be a criminal offence for any person to provide false or misleading information to the health officer/medical practitioners concerned. The maximum penalty for failure to comply is a fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for six months.
For some cases of the companies which established and operating in Hong Kong and have factories in Mainland of China, Macau or Taiwan, the management personnel such as managers and directors will have to arrive in Hong Kong from Mainland of China, Macau or Taiwan for the necessary operations of the companies.
Under section 4(1) of the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C) (the Regulation), made under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap. 599), the Chief Secretary for Administration may designate any person or category of persons fulfilling certain criteria for exemption that –
(1)
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the person’s or persons’ entry into Hong Kong —
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is necessary for the supply of goods or services required for the normal operation of Hong Kong or the daily needs of the people of Hong Kong;
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is necessary for governmental operation;
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is necessary for the protection of the safety or health of the people of Hong Kong or the handling of the public health emergency within the meaning of section 8(5) of the Ordinance concerning the specified disease;
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is necessary for the person’s or persons’ receiving nursery, kindergarten, primary or secondary education at any school registered under the Education Ordinance (Cap. 279) in Hong Kong or for the provision of such education;
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is necessary for the safe travelling of any person for the purposes mentioned in subparagraph (d); or;
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because of the exceptional circumstances of the case, otherwise serves the public interest of Hong Kong; or
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the person’s or persons’ travelling is necessary for purposes relating to manufacturing operations, business activities or provision of professional services in the interest of Hong Kong’s economic development.
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(2)
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In accordance with section 4(1) of the Regulation, the person who falls in the categories can apply for the Exemption from the compulsory quarantine requirement. For more about the Category please refer to Exemption from Compulsory Quarantine Arrangement for Inbound Travellers from the Mainland, Macao or Taiwan.
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Kaizen Services
KAIZEN Group is now providing the service to help the clients who fall in the categories 17 to 18 to apply for the exemption from compulsory quarantine.
It usually takes 3 weeks for the person of Categories of 17 to 18 in the below list to apply for the Exemption from Compulsory Quarantine Arrangement for Inbound Travelers. After the application for exemption is approved, the applicant may be granted multiple exemptions from the quarantine requirement for compulsory entry into Hong Kong from the date of issue of the authorization of exemption until the expiry of section 4(1)(b) of the Regulation or as may be specified in the authorization letter (whichever is the shorter).
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No.
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Category of Persons
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17
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Personnel of companies engaged in
manufacturing goods for supply to Hong Kong for its normal operation or for
the daily needs of the people of Hong Kong:
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a. either the owner of
a company with factory/factories in the Mainland which are engaged in
manufacturing goods for supply to Hong Kong for its normal operation or for
the daily needs of the people of Hong Kong, and up to one personnel employed
and so authorized by the company; or
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b. up to two personnel
employed and so authorized by such a company as described in (a)
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18
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Personnel of Hong Kong enterprises
with manufacturing operations in the Mainland:
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a. either the owner of
an enterprise with a valid business registration certificate issued under the
Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310) and with manufacturing operations
in the Mainland, and up to one personnel employed and so authorised by the
enterprise; or
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b. up to two personnels
employed and so authorised by such an enterprise as described in (a)
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Based on our successful experience in assisting clients to apply for the exemption from compulsory quarantine, Kaizen will provide a comprehensive preliminary assessment of the clients, such as the necessity of the management personnel to come to Hong Kong from the Mainland to ascertain whether the employees and management personnel meet the application requirements.
If you need to confirm whether factors such as your existing business and the qualifications of the applicant meet the requirements for exemption from compulsory quarantine, please contact us for a more detailed introduction.
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