The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (November 9) that stalls at the 2023 Che Kung Festival (CKF) fair will be put up for open auction on November 23 (Wednesday).
 
​     A spokesman for the FEHD said the annual CKF fair will be held for 18 consecutive days from January 19 to February 5, 2023, at Chui Tin Street Soccer Pitch in Sha Tin. A total of 40 dry goods stalls and two wet goods stalls will be put up for auction.
 
​     He added, "The Government will implement a series of infection prevention and control measures at the CKF fair as detailed at the Annex. Amongst other measures, a licensee and his/her staff deployed to work at the stall must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and must have undergone a rapid antigen test (RAT) for COVID-19 at their own cost within 24 hours before the commencement of the fair. They must undergo a COVID-19 RAT at their own cost once before entering the fair every three days and keep the RAT result for three days. A licensee and his/her staff must keep the vaccination records or recovery record QR codes and photos of the RAT kit showing the negative test results as proof, and make such records available for FEHD staff's checking before and throughout the fair."
 
​     If a licensee and his/her staff deployed to work at the stall are unfit to receive COVID-19 vaccination for health reasons, they must make a declaration with the support of a COVID-19 Vaccination Medical Exemption Certificate (exemption certificate) printed with the QR code. These persons must keep the exemption certificate as proof for FEHD staff's checking before and throughout the fair. Moreover, the licensees are required to provide hand sanitisers at the stalls, carry out regular cleaning and disinfection of their stalls, as well as provide a list of staff and their contact information for tracing of confirmed cases if necessary.
 
​     "Depending on the development of the epidemic situation of COVID-19, the anti-epidemic measures at the CKF fair may be subject to change. The Government may also adjust the scale and business hours of the fair, tighten the admission requirements for members of the public or even cancel the event. Interested parties should fully consider all these factors before participating in the auction," the spokesman reminded.
 
​     The upset prices of the 2023 CKF fair stalls are frozen again at last year's level, which are half of those in 2019, set at $2,310 for dry goods stalls and $550 for wet goods stalls.
 
​     The auction will begin at 9.30am on November 23 (Wednesday), at the Assembly Hall at 2/F, Lai Chi Kok Government Offices, 19 Lai Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon. Dry goods stalls will be auctioned first, followed by wet goods stalls.
 
​     Bidders for CKF fair stalls must be at least 18 years old and ordinarily reside in Hong Kong. As the auction venue has a limited capacity, registration is on first-come, first-served basis. All persons entering the auction venue must fulfil the requirement of the Vaccine Pass while those under the category of Red Code and Amber Code are not allowed to enter the venue. They are also required to comply with the measures for the prevention of COVID-19 to be implemented at the auction venues, which include body temperature screening to be conducted before entering the venue and masks to be worn at all times while inside the venue. On the auction day, except for exempted persons, all persons are required to scan the "LeaveHomeSafe" venue QR code using the "LeaveHomeSafe" mobile application on their phones before entering the auction venue. Exempted persons are required to complete a form to register their name, the first four digits or letters of their identification document, their contact number and the date and time of their visit. They are also required to present relevant identification documents for verification by the on-site staff.
 
​     Anyone can bid for more than one stall. A bidder must pay the bid price and register in person with his or her own name as the licensee of the stall immediately after successfully bidding for a stall. The bidder is also required to sign at once a licence agreement, or he/she will forfeit the rights to operate the stall.
 
​     CKF fair site will be made available to the licensees two days in advance of the fair (January 17 and 18, 2023) for the setting up of stalls. The Government may without cause postpone the commencement date and shorten the duration of the licensed period (including the duration for setting up stalls and the business period of the fair), or suspend or cancel the CKF fair wholly or in part. The bidding price (licence fee) paid will be refunded to the affected licensee on a pro-rata basis without interest. The licensee and his/her employees or agents must vacate the licenced area no later than the time specified by the Government verbally (by way of press release, public announcement or other similar communications) or in writing.
 
​     Stall licensees must completely remove the stall structure and all paraphernalia, together with all refuse, debris and unsold commodities (whether damaged or otherwise) from the licensed area before 10pm on February 5, 2023. Stall licensees should not destroy, damage or abandon any unsold commodities at or in the vicinity of the stall. They may surrender unsold flowers and plants left behind at the stall to the FEHD at no charge, cost or compensation whatsoever before the above-mentioned time.

​     The FEHD reminded licensees that the stalls are solely for the purpose of selling and promoting the sale of the permitted commodities, and no other activities are allowed in the licensed area. If the FEHD considers that any activity conducted by the licensee to publicise, promote, display, show or sell any permitted commodities in the venue is unlawful, immoral or incompatible with the object of the CKF fair, the FEHD is entitled to direct the licensee to stop conducting such activity and the licensee must immediately comply with such direction.
 
​     Successful bidders shall comply with all the stipulations and provisions as set out in the licence agreement. Otherwise, the department is entitled to terminate the agreement and the licensee shall immediately vacate the stall.
 
​     Details of the 2023 CKF fair such as the public notice, the location and layout of the fair venue, commodities allowed for sale at the fair stalls, open auction arrangements and related rules as well as a sample of the licence agreement are available at the FEHD website (www.fehd.gov.hk). For enquiries, please call the FEHD's Sha Tin District Environmental Hygiene Office at 2634 0134.

Ends/Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Issued at HKT 16:30

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