An amended child abduction and custody order will come into operation on Oct. 1 in Hong Kong.

According to a government press release on Thursday, it adds 13 places to a list in a schedule of states and territories that have subscribed to the Child Abduction & Custody Order.

This order allows Hong Kong and the listed participating places to cooperate under the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The new countries added are: Uzbekistan, Brazil, Malta, Uruguay, Estonia, Fiji Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, Sri Lanka, Latvia, Lithuania, Thailand and Bulgaria.

The Health, Welfare & Food Bureau said the convention provides an effective international mechanism for ensuring the swift return of children wrongfully removed or retained in violation of custody rights to their place of habitual residence.

The convention has been applicable to Hong Kong since 1997.

The amend order will be published in the Gazette on Friday.

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2005)