（香港21日讯）中国水货大军连日到香港，除了狂扫奶粉导致断市，更有北区药房每天“热卖”逾200瓶洗发露。
香港《明报》追踪港货在深圳去向，发现香港药房每罐售280港元（约109令吉）的奶粉，在中国价高三成，卖300元人民币，（约145令吉），且有“海鲜价”，愈近年关卖得愈贵。
深圳“实惠港货店”
内有多种不同品牌奶粉。另有洗发露、牙膏、面部护理等用品， 都是由香港“走水货” 入口。
业界：限买无用
至于热卖贺年礼品金莎巧克力，在深圳港货店售价更高过香港近六成，24粒装礼盒售88元人民币（约42.7令吉），即每颗卖4.6港元（约1.8令吉）。
港九药房总商会理事长刘爱国称，水货客“整队兵”到香港，无论如何限买奶粉数量都无用，目前美素佳儿奶粉正缺货，其余尿片及日用品去货量增加，但未见缺货。
《明报》记者上周五到深圳观察这些“港货店”，在龙岗布吉德兴花园附近，短短一条街就有两间港货店。
记者扮顾客到“实惠港货店”查询，约300尺的小店五脏俱全，护理、药品、零食等杂货都来自香港。
买奶粉须预订
该家店铺开业4年，店主李小姐说，现时以美素佳儿、美赞臣的奶粉最抢手，顾客须来电预订，每罐分别售275元人民币（约133.5令吉）及265元（约128.7令吉），较香港药房零售每罐约280港元（约109令吉）贵近两成至两成半。她又称两品牌的奶粉在港常断市，要到旺角才能买货，加上近期边境检查较严，故售价每日变，也会愈来愈贵。
另一位于罗湖区的“正品港货店”，负责人声称美素佳儿奶粉每罐要270元（约131令吉），上周四仍售290元的美赞臣（约140.8令吉），至周五已售300元（约145.6令吉）。愈接近农历新年奶粉价会愈升，之后才可能回落。
药房日售200支洗头水
临近岁晚，香港不少北区药房生意大旺，有上水药房老板透露，除了奶粉断市，每日可卖出逾200瓶洗头水，自由行及水货客都来扫货。
除了婴幼儿用品，中国的“港货店”内另有出售洗发露、面部护理、药品、零食及纸包饮料等杂货，如1000毫升的飘柔洗发露售价55元人民币（约26.7令吉），较港贵近四成；24粒装金莎礼盒则售88元人民币（约42.7令吉），较在港售约70港元（约27令吉）贵近六成。
港货在中国有价有市，有深圳妈妈坦言就算同一品牌，由香港直接进口的货品质素也较有保证，故由儿子出生到现时逾6个月大，一直光顾附近港货店购买美赞臣奶粉，货源尚算充足，较亲自到港入货方便。
不过，居于布吉的黄太称，会托家人到港买奶粉、个人护理等日用品，感觉较安心。
（香港21日讯）中国水货大军连日到香港，除了狂扫奶粉导致断市，更有北区药房每天“热卖”逾200瓶洗发露。
香港《明报》追踪港货在深圳去向，发现香港药房每罐售280港元（约109令吉）的奶粉，在中国价高三成，卖300元人民币，（约145令吉），且有“海鲜价”，愈近年关卖得愈贵。
业界：限买无用
至于热卖贺年礼品金莎巧克力，在深圳港货店售价更高过香港近六成，24粒装礼盒售88元人民币（约42.7令吉），即每颗卖4.6港元（约1.8令吉）。
港九药房总商会理事长刘爱国称，水货客“整队兵”到香港，无论如何限买奶粉数量都无用，目前美素佳儿奶粉正缺货，其余尿片及日用品去货量增加，但未见缺货。
《明报》记者上周五到深圳观察这些“港货店”，在龙岗布吉德兴花园附近，短短一条街就有两间港货店。
记者扮顾客到“实惠港货店”查询，约300尺的小店五脏俱全，护理、药品、零食等杂货都来自香港。
买奶粉须预订
该家店铺开业4年，店主李小姐说，现时以美素佳儿、美赞臣的奶粉最抢手，顾客须来电预订，每罐分别售275元人民币（约133.5令吉）及265元（约128.7令吉），较香港药房零售每罐约280港元（约109令吉）贵近两成至两成半。她又称两品牌的奶粉在港常断市，要到旺角才能买货，加上近期边境检查较严，故售价每日变，也会愈来愈贵。
另一位于罗湖区的“正品港货店”，负责人声称美素佳儿奶粉每罐要270元（约131令吉），上周四仍售290元的美赞臣（约140.8令吉），至周五已售300元（约145.6令吉）。愈接近农历新年奶粉价会愈升，之后才可能回落。
药房日售200支洗头水
临近岁晚，香港不少北区药房生意大旺，有上水药房老板透露，除了奶粉断市，每日可卖出逾200瓶洗头水，自由行及水货客都来扫货。
除了婴幼儿用品，中国的“港货店”内另有出售洗发露、面部护理、药品、零食及纸包饮料等杂货，如1000毫升的飘柔洗发露售价55元人民币（约26.7令吉），较港贵近四成；24粒装金莎礼盒则售88元人民币（约42.7令吉），较在港售约70港元（约27令吉）贵近六成。
港货在中国有价有市，有深圳妈妈坦言就算同一品牌，由香港直接进口的货品质素也较有保证，故由儿子出生到现时逾6个月大，一直光顾附近港货店购买美赞臣奶粉，货源尚算充足，较亲自到港入货方便。
不过，居于布吉的黄太称，会托家人到港买奶粉、个人护理等日用品，感觉较安心。
Excerpt from 南洋商报
Hong Kong runs dry on formula milk
Got milk? Yes, the Hong Kong government assures parents as it moves to crack down on mainland parallel traders who snap up baby formula milk here to resell for high profit in China.
Their buying spree sparked a shortage in recent weeks of some brands of milk powder – popular ones here are Friso, Abbott and Mead Johnson – as parents both in Hong Kong and the mainland rush to stock up ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays.
The brouhaha over formula milk is the latest in a series of spats between irate Hong Kongers and enterprising parallel traders exploiting a legal loophole.
By physically transporting products – ranging from geoduck clams to smartphones – via trolleys to neighbouring Shenzhen, the traders avoid paying the usual tariffs on imported goods.
The government has said that plugging this loophole would penalise genuine tourists.
But to thwart parallel traders, Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing Man said on Friday that the law will be amended to allow anyone leaving Hong Kong to take only two cans – or up to 1.8kg – of milk powder with them.
The new limit, Dr Ko said, will strike a balance between placing limits on parallel traders and meeting the needs of travelling parents.
It will require amending the Import and Export Ordinance, which could be completed this month, he added.
Meanwhile, MTR Corp, which operates trains connecting Hong Kong to the border with mainland China, will cut the maximum luggage weight allowance from 32kg to 23kg for a three-month trial, said Anthony Cheung, Secretary for Transport and Housing.
The weight limit will also restrict the amount of products that can be trundled into Shenzhen.
A hotline for parents to place advance orders is also being set up.
Baby formula milk is an especially attractive commodity as it can be resold at high profit margins.
Mainland parents are willing to pay more for formula milk from Hong Kong after a series of food scandals such as that in 2008 when six babies died from drinking melamine-tainted milk.
But soon, anyone entering the mainland will be entitled – besides the duty-free allowance of 200 cigarettes and one bottle of spirits – to just two cans of milk.
The run on milk powder here had led to empty shelves in supermarkets, especially those in the New Territories near the border with mainland China.
Some irate Hong Kongers even sought to appeal for “international aid” from United States President Barack Obama against mainland “smugglers”, in a petition on the White House website.
Titled “Baby Hunger Outbreak In Hong Kong, International Aid Requested”, the petition said: “We request for international support and assistance as babies in Hong Kong will face malnutrition very soon.”
It bears the signatures of some 14,000 people. But the number has to reach 100,000 within a month to trigger a response from the Obama administration.
If so, this would cause much embarrassment to Beijing and the Hong Kong government, and on Friday, the latter acted quickly to defuse the potential fiasco.
The restriction on milk exports, which will affect parents flying out of Hong Kong to, say, Canada, may be a sledgehammer approach, but to anxious parents, it could not have come any sooner.
Fennie Lin, 39, a marketing director, was relieved that steps had been taken to address a problem that she said has festered over the past couple of years but which has worsened in recent weeks.
The mother-of-three, including a seven-month-old baby, said that one out of every three trips to her neighbourhood supermarket at the Mid-levels for milk ended with her leaving empty-handed.
“I totally agree with the measures,” she said.
“Already, I am diversifying the brands we use, but still, there’s not enough. It’s ridiculous.” — The Straits Times/Asia News Network
Excerpt from The Star
Hong Kong runs dry on formula milk
Got milk? Yes, the Hong Kong government assures parents as it moves to crack down on mainland parallel traders who snap up baby formula milk here to resell for high profit in China.
Their buying spree sparked a shortage in recent weeks of some brands of milk powder – popular ones here are Friso, Abbott and Mead Johnson – as parents both in Hong Kong and the mainland rush to stock up ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays.
The brouhaha over formula milk is the latest in a series of spats between irate Hong Kongers and enterprising parallel traders exploiting a legal loophole.
By physically transporting products – ranging from geoduck clams to smartphones – via trolleys to neighbouring Shenzhen, the traders avoid paying the usual tariffs on imported goods.
The government has said that plugging this loophole would penalise genuine tourists.
But to thwart parallel traders, Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing Man said on Friday that the law will be amended to allow anyone leaving Hong Kong to take only two cans – or up to 1.8kg – of milk powder with them.
The new limit, Dr Ko said, will strike a balance between placing limits on parallel traders and meeting the needs of travelling parents.
It will require amending the Import and Export Ordinance, which could be completed this month, he added.
Meanwhile, MTR Corp, which operates trains connecting Hong Kong to the border with mainland China, will cut the maximum luggage weight allowance from 32kg to 23kg for a three-month trial, said Anthony Cheung, Secretary for Transport and Housing.
The weight limit will also restrict the amount of products that can be trundled into Shenzhen.
A hotline for parents to place advance orders is also being set up.
Baby formula milk is an especially attractive commodity as it can be resold at high profit margins.
Mainland parents are willing to pay more for formula milk from Hong Kong after a series of food scandals such as that in 2008 when six babies died from drinking melamine-tainted milk.
But soon, anyone entering the mainland will be entitled – besides the duty-free allowance of 200 cigarettes and one bottle of spirits – to just two cans of milk.
The run on milk powder here had led to empty shelves in supermarkets, especially those in the New Territories near the border with mainland China.
Some irate Hong Kongers even sought to appeal for “international aid” from United States President Barack Obama against mainland “smugglers”, in a petition on the White House website.
Titled “Baby Hunger Outbreak In Hong Kong, International Aid Requested”, the petition said: “We request for international support and assistance as babies in Hong Kong will face malnutrition very soon.”
It bears the signatures of some 14,000 people. But the number has to reach 100,000 within a month to trigger a response from the Obama administration.
If so, this would cause much embarrassment to Beijing and the Hong Kong government, and on Friday, the latter acted quickly to defuse the potential fiasco.
The restriction on milk exports, which will affect parents flying out of Hong Kong to, say, Canada, may be a sledgehammer approach, but to anxious parents, it could not have come any sooner.
Fennie Lin, 39, a marketing director, was relieved that steps had been taken to address a problem that she said has festered over the past couple of years but which has worsened in recent weeks.
The mother-of-three, including a seven-month-old baby, said that one out of every three trips to her neighbourhood supermarket at the Mid-levels for milk ended with her leaving empty-handed.
“I totally agree with the measures,” she said.
“Already, I am diversifying the brands we use, but still, there’s not enough. It’s ridiculous.” — The Straits Times/Asia News Network
Excerpt from The Star
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