MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): Deputy President, the passage of the Travel Industry Bill ("the Bill") by the Legislative Council will mark the end of the era of the trade's two-tier self-regulatory regime. In the 2010 Policy Address, the incumbent Chief Executive proposed a comprehensive regulation of the operation and regulatory framework of the travel trade, and a public consultation was launched accordingly. At the end of 2011, the establishment of the Travel Industry Authority ("TIA") was announced. In recent years, the trade and I have maintained communication with the Government, and witnessed the birth of the Bill. The passage of the Bill by the Council today is an achievement reached by the concerted efforts of the trade, the Government and fellow Members.

The travel market has experienced many changes in a couple of years. The emergence of online travel agents has affected the ecology of the entire travel industry; the closure of some travel agents have affected consumers' rights and benefits; incidents of coercing Mainland visitors into shopping cannot be eradicated despite repeated bans; and the non-cooperative movement launched by a small number of trade members to challenge the regulatory authority of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong ("TIC") had exposed TIC's embarrassment of having no enforcement power. If the Government could be open-minded to timely amend certain provisions during the scrutiny of the Bill, it would be conducive to making the ordinance better meet the actual situations.

I am concerned about the transitional period between the passage of the Bill and the formal operation of TIA, as well as the handover arrangements from TIC to TIA, particularly the arrangement of the relevant personnel. I hope TIA will give priority to employ staff with experience in trade regulation, so as to facilitate smooth transition. Currently, TIC has altogether 60 employees. If the employees are worried about uncertainty of work prospect and even the possibility of being dismissed during the two-year transitional period, they cannot work contentedly. Therefore, I hope the Government will consider the way out of these employees. Can TIA accord preference to these employees over other candidates of comparable suitability for appointment in its staff recruitment?

The formulation process of subsidiary legislation and administrative guidelines is relatively complicated, which involves some regulatory details. I hope the Government will listen more to trade's views, so as to enhance the feasibility and regulatory effectiveness of the relevant measures.

Lastly, I hope the future TIA will show more concern about the development of the travel industry and give more support to micro, small and medium travel agents in addition to performing its regulatory functions. The Bill empowers the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to set aside funds from the existing Travel Industry Compensation Fund for establishing the Travel Industry Development Fund ("the Fund") to subsidize the travel trade on training, application of information technology, etc. I hope the Fund can be used prudently to help the sustainable development of the travel industry and travel agents in Hong Kong, and enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong's travel industry in the region.

I support the Third Reading and passage of the Bill, and wish for the smooth establishment of TIA and its coming into operation soon. Deputy President, I so submit.