Four restaurants have been found selling short weight seafood to consumers in the first three months of this year. Selling goods by weight which is less than their purported weight is an offence under the Weights and Measures Ordinance.
In the four cases, one restaurant and four staff members of the other three restaurants were prosecuted. They were convicted and fined from $1,000 to $5,000.
Officers of the Customs and Excise Department posing as customers ordered seafood at the four restaurants in Tuen Mun, Wan Chai, To Kwan Wan and Jordan on several occasions in late 2008.
After the officers were informed of the purported weight of the ordered seafood, including crabs, lobsters and fish at the four restaurants, they revealed their identities and checked the net weight of the seafood with electronic scales. The officers found that the seafood was short of the purported weight.
In subsequent examinations by the Government Laboratory, discrepancies were found between the net weight and the purported weight of the seafood, with the shortage ranging from 21% to 43%.
A spokesman for the Customs and Excise Department today (March 27) said that Customs officers would continue to take stringent enforcement action against short weight activities to protect consumers' interests and to uphold a fair trading environment.
Under the Weights and Measures Ordinance, any person who in the course of trade supplies goods to another person by weight or measure, should supply the goods in net weight or net measure. Any shortage of quantity purporting to be supplied is an offence. The maximum penalty is a fine of $10,000.
Ends/Friday, March 27, 2009