Talks between Hong Kong and the EU are being hampered by the European delegation's attempts to bundle the issue with other aviation negotiations

Hong Kong International airport (HKIA) has urged the European Union (EU) not to negotiate to speed up the country's application for mutual recognition of its security measures for liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) by focusing on it separately of other political aviation issues.

Hong Kong was one of the first in the region to approach the EU for mutual recognition, but discussions have reached a temporary stalemate as the EU wants to table it alongside other aviation negotiations.

HKIA general manager retail and advertising Eva Tsang told DFNIonline: "The EU wishes to link the discussion on LAGs with the Community Designation Clause and the Air Services Agreement. Our government has said it is common international practice not to mix discussions on security-related subjects with those on economic issues such as traffic rights and designation criteria, but there has been no response from the EU."
 
Tsang claimed that although it the airport is keen to resolve the LAGs issue, the negative effects on sales have been limited. "Business here is growing strongly," she said. "And the negative impact [of the transfer issue] has been largely compensated by the growth in overall spending power and penetration rate of less-affected markets. Liquor and beauty sales are strong and outperforming the traffic growth, but we are always cautious and continuing our initiatives to optimise sales potential."