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The Government published in the Gazette today (April 25) the News Agencies Registration (Amendment) Regulation 2014 and the Newspapers Registration and Distribution (Amendment) Regulation 2014 (the Amendment Regulations).
The Amendment Regulations aim to revise the fees for registering local newspapers and news agencies, issuing licences for newspaper distributors, and searching, inspecting and obtaining certified extracts from the registers of local newspapers or news agencies under the Registration of Local Newspapers Ordinance (Cap. 268).
"In line with the 'user pays' principle, it is the Government's policy that fees charged for government services should in general be set at levels adequate to recover the full cost of providing the services," a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said.
"The fees were last revised in December 2005. In order to achieve full cost recovery gradually and avoid a steep fee increase, the existing fees will be increased by about 10 to 20 per cent," the spokesman said.
The Amendment Regulations will be tabled at the Legislative Council for negative vetting on April 30. Subject to negative vetting, the revised fees will come into effect on November 1 this year.
Ends/Friday, April 25, 2014
Issued at HKT 11:00
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