19 March 2003

Series 3 (Countries other than USA & EU) No. 10/2003

Introduction

Rejection of Licence Applications

2. Under the following circumstances, a licence application may be rejected by the Department:

1. licence application lodged on a wrong form (under paper mode) or using incorrect Application Type (under Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) mode);
   
   

2. licence application lodged by an exporter or a manufacturer or an importer whose licensing facilities are debarred when the application is processed; and
   
   

3. licence application which is suspected to be involved in circumvention of the provisions of the Import and Export Ordinance or the Textiles Export Control System.

Where applications are lodged in paper mode they will be returned to the applicants together with a rejection notice or a letter setting out the reason(s) for rejection. The departmental copies of the rejected licence application forms will be retained by the Department for audit purpose. In case the discrepancy can be rectified subsequently, the applicant needs to attach the notice of rejection and the previously rejected application form (original or duplicate copy as appropriate) to a fresh licence application in order to ensure that it can receive prompt and due attention by the Department. In case the applications are lodged in EDI mode, a rejection message explaining the reason(s) of rejection will be returned to the exporters electronically. The applicant needs to lodge a fresh application with new Unique Application Reference number.

Deferment of Licence Applications

3. For cases with discrepancies other than those mentioned in para 2 above, a licence applications may be deferred for various reasons. The whole set of the deferred licence application together with a notice of deferment will be returned to the applicant for paper licence or a deferment message will be sent to the exporter for EDI licence. The applicant should take note of the following as indicated in the notice of deferment or the deferment message :

1. the reason(s) for deferment and the amendments/further information required;
   
   

2. or paper licence applications only, whether the amendments/further information required should be made on the same application form (for cases where minor discrepancies can be amended or a few further information can be added on the same application form) or a new application form should be completed (for cases where discrepancies may render the application form no longer usable e.g. amendments required are too numerous, or the disallowed use of correction fluid, etc).

4. After effecting the amendments or adding the appropriate information (either on the same application form or a new application form as appropriate under paper mode or by effecting the necessary amendments via the end-user software under EDI mode), the applicant should re-lodge the application to the Department.
   
   

5. For cases where the amendments are made on the same application form, the notice of deferment should be enclosed and the re-lodgment should be made within 30 days from the date of the notice of deferment. The applicant is not required to pay a new licence fee if the re-lodgment is made within 30 days from the date of the notice of deferment. Any re-lodgment after expiry of the 30-day period will not be entertained and the applicant is required to lodge a fresh application with payment of new licence fees. For cases where a new application form is required to be completed, the notice of deferment and the whole set of previously deferred licence application should be enclosed.
   
   

6. Under the EDI mode, when a deferred application is re-lodged for approval, the original Unique Application Reference number should be quoted. No additional licence fee or service charge by Tradelink Electronic Commerce Ltd. (Tradelink) will be levied for re-lodgment of deferred application. However, a re-lodgment after expiry of the above mentioned 30-day period will be rejected. Traders are also reminded that changes made in the re-lodgment by the exporter must not affect the validity of information previously provided, otherwise, the Department may reject the re-lodgment and a fresh application will be required. The Department may also reject the re-lodged application for incorrect/incomplete declarations made by the manufacturer. Licence fee and Tradelink’s charge may be payable for such cases.
   
   

7. The re-lodged licence application should be for the same consignment covered in the previously deferred application (i.e. same exporter and manufacturer, same consignee and same product). The Department may ask for further documentary evidence in case of any doubt. In addition, for restrained textiles export licence application, applicant should ensure that the relevant quota sources quoted with the previously deferred application, should still be valid when re-lodgment of licence application is made. If these requirements are not complied with, the relevant re-lodged licence applications will be rejected.

Important Note on Common Errors Found on Licence Applications

8. Traders should at all times ensure that their textiles licence applications are properly completed and error-free before they are lodged to the Department. Otherwise, delay in approval for issue of the licences arising from any discrepancies found on the licence applications may cause inconvenience or loss to the traders concerned. Any licence applications that are found to be not in order will not be approved by the Department until relevant discrepancies or errors are rectified.
   
   

9. To avoid deferment or rejection of licence applications, traders should exercise due care when completing licence applications. Most errors found on licence applications are the result of carelessness and can be avoided if due care is exercised. A list of the most common errors and omissions found on licence applications is at Appendix A. A checklist for common errors found on EDI licence applications are at Appendix B. It should however be noted that the list of common errors and the checklist for completion of licence applications are by no means exhaustive.
   
   

10. The Department also provides the following publications which set out detailed requirements for completion of licence applications :

1. How to complete Textiles Export Licence (Form 4);
   
   

2. How to apply for a Textiles Import Licence (Form 7);
   
   

3. How to lodge Textiles Export Licence (Form 5) applications by using EDI; and
   
   

4. How to lodge Textiles Export Licence (Form 8) applications by using EDI.

Traders are advised to refer to the publications when completing licence applications.

Enquiry

11. Should you require further information, please contact the following units/officers of the Department :

Yours faithfully,

(Ms Fanny WONG)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry