The Executive Council Wednesday passed the bill for the administrative regulation on gaming junket-tour operation, which will be effective from April.

According to Francis Tam Pak Yuen, Secretary for Economy and Finance who also chairs the Tender Committee for Gaming Concession, the bill has clearly set the definition of gaming junket-tour promoters, which were contracted by gaming concessionaires for their services, gaming junket-tour collaborators, who work for the promoters on employment basis.

The bill also stipulated that gaming junket-tour promoters might provide to the gamers services of transportation, accommodations, caters and entertainments in return of commissions from the gaming concessionaires, so as to promote games of luck in casinos or other forms, said Tong Chi Kin, spokesman of the Executive Council.

Essential qualifications and liabilities of promoters and collaborators were also included in the bill, said Mr. Tong

The bill also stipulated that an individual promoter could at the same time be contracted to more then one gaming concessionaire.

Mr. Tam said that the timetable for licensing was yet to be set and the number of licenses for collaborators would be reviewed annually in October, adding that transitional terms were included in the bill thus current promoters could continues with their operation before the licensing process was completed.

He also said that starting from April 2002, commission income of licensed promoters is subjected to a tax of 5 %.

He said that according to up-to-date information, there are over 100 entities that could be qualified as gaming junket-tour promoters while the number of collaborators is approximately 3000 to 5000.