24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : TID CL 1-10/3

24 December 2008

Dear Sirs,

Notice to Exporters :

Series 1 (USA) No. 10/2008

Series 2 (EU) No. 7/2008

Series 3 (Countries other than USA & EU) No. 7/2008

Certificate of Origin Circular No. 19/2008

Import Licensing (Textiles) Circular No. 4/2008

Textiles Trader Registration Circular No. 10/2008

Textiles Control Arrangements for the EU and the US Markets in 2009

This notice informs traders that the Department has reviewed the textiles control arrangements for exports to the European Union (EU)¹ Market and plans to introduce changes in the second quarter of 2009. In the meantime, the existing control arrangements for exports to the EU will remain unchanged until further notice. As for exports to the US market, no changes to the existing control arrangements are being planned at this stage.

DETAILS

The EU Market

2. Commercial Information Circular No. 625/2008 dated 11 December 2008 informed traders that the European Commission has announced the expiry of the joint import surveillance system on textiles and clothing originating in the Mainland of China on 31 December 2008. Taking into account the global textiles trading environment as well as the above latest development, the Department plans to streamline the existing arrangements by re-classifying the EU Market as a "non-sensitive market". Currently, textiles exports to non-sensitive markets are not subject to the Production Notification (PN) arrangements, and traders can export either with consignment-specific export licences Form 4 (TIC 353) or comprehensive licences.
   
   
3. Traders are requested to note that any adjustments to the textiles control arrangements necessitate amendments to the Import and Export (General) Regulations (Chapter 60A) and can only be implemented after the legislative amendments are passed. Hence, it is unlikely that changes to the textiles control arrangements for the EU Market will take effect before the second quarter of 2009. Traders will be advised of the effective date of the changes in due course. Meanwhile, traders should follow the existing textiles control arrangements for exports to the EU market as stipulated in the Department's circulars on "Implementation of the Extension of PN and Textiles Trader Registration Scheme (TTRS) Requirements to the EU Market" dated 6 January 2006 and 15 February 2006 until further notice. 
   

The US Market

4. As the Mainland/US Memorandum of Understanding concerning Trade in Textile and Apparel Products will expire on 31 December 2008, the Mainland's textiles exports to the US may no longer be subject to quantitative restriction in 2009. However, it is still unclear how the US will handle textiles imports originated from the Mainland after 2008. The risk of trade restrictive measures (e.g., anti-dumping duty, countervailing duty and transitional product-specific safeguard) remains. To safeguard Hong Kong's legitimate trade interest and to provide a more certain and stable control environment to the trade, the Department will maintain the existing textiles control system for the US Market at least until end-2009. Traders may refer to the Department's circular on "Textiles Control Arrangements for 2005" dated 30 November 2004 for the prevailing control arrangements for textiles exports to the US Market.

IMPORTANT NOTES

5. In view of the possible changes of the textiles control arrangements for the EU Market in the second quarter of 2009 under which textiles notifications may no longer be required for export of textiles to the market, traders registered under the Textiles Trader Registration Scheme (TTRS) are advised to carefully plan their purchase and use of Export Notifications I (TID 550) and Export Notifications II (TID 551), if they are using the notification forms solely for exports to the EU Market. Traders are reminded that unused notification forms will not be refunded. 
   
   
6. Traders who do not have a comprehensive licence are advised to plan ahead to consider applying for comprehensive licence from the Department in light of the plan to re-classify the EU Market as a non-sensitive market in Hong Kong's textiles control system in the second quarter of 2009. Currently, no fee is charged for the application for comprehensive licence. For the application procedures and conditions of licence, please refer to the Department's circular on "Comprehensive Import Licence (Textiles) and Comprehensive Export Licence (Textiles)" dated 7 March 2008.
   

ENQUIRIES

7. For enquiries on this circular, please contact the following units of the Textiles Licensing Branch: 

Yours faithfully,

(Sophie WONG)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry

^1. The EU includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.