Macau moves to tighten laws on parallel trading

Macau is set to tighten laws against parallel trading, with organized cargo-splitting and false declaration schemes to be criminalized or treated as administrative offenses.

The government is planning legislative amendments to upgrade organized, group-based parallel trading from an administrative offense to a criminal or minor offense, while also introducing new penalties for recruiting others into such activities, particularly in light of the growing involvement of young students.

Under the current legal framework, parallel trading is treated as an administrative offense punishable by fines.

However, the Macau Customs Service (SA) revealed during a recent Legislative Assembly session that plans are underway to revise the External Trade Law, with proposals to bring organized, group-based smuggling activities into the criminal sphere or classify them as minor offenses. New provisions are also being considered to specifically penalize those who recruit others to engage in false declarations or unlawful foreign trade activities.

Under existing immigration laws, mainland residents holding family visit endorsements and nonresident workers who frequently engage in parallel trading may have their stay permits revoked, face deportation orders, and be barred from re-entry.

Customs data shows that in the first half of this year, 2,059 violation cases were recorded at major border checkpoints – an increase of 8.2% year on year. Among them, 40 cases involved students under 18, a slight rise from the previous year. Currently, minors under 16 caught parallel trading face only goods confiscation and no personal penalties.

A lawyer was cited in a report as saying that the government would need to strike a careful balance in both the legislative amendment process and future enforcement.

He suggested that the new law should clearly define the scope of parallel trading activities to avoid inadvertently penalizing law-abiding residents due to vague definitions and called for the formulation of clear enforcement guidelines to draw a distinct line between reasonable personal carrying and smuggling.

He also stressed the need to ensure that normal cross-border travel by ordinary residents is not unduly disrupted, while calling for enhanced public education to help residents fully understand the new rules and reduce unintentional violations.