Hong Kong Customs arrested a 30-year-old medicine shop salesman in Tsim Sha Tsui on Tuesday over suspected unfair trade practices involving a misleading omission in the sale of Chinese herbal medicines.
Customs received information that the salesman was suspected of engaging in unfair trade practices. During the sale, he provided the total price in an untimely manner, revealing it only after the herbs had been ground into powder.
Following an in-depth investigation, officers arrested the local salesman. He is being held for inquiry and the investigation is ongoing.
Customs said it has long been concerned about visitors being misled into purchases and has set up a Quick Response Team to handle urgent complaints from short-haul visitors, referring them promptly to investigators.
It reminded traders to comply with the Trade Descriptions Ordinance and consumers to buy from reputable shops, to be cautious about unit prices and to ask for more information, including the total price, before making a purchase.
Under the ordinance, a trader who omits or hides material information, or provides it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner, causing an average consumer to make a transactional decision, commits an offence. The maximum penalty is HK$500,000 and five years' imprisonment.
