Commercial Information Circulars

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

Ref : CR EIC 230/2/1/1/1

29 January 2007

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 61/2007

European Union (EU)* : Quota Adjustment for Imports of Certain Chinese
Textiles and Clothing Products Following EU Enlargement

Further to Commercial Information Circular No. 378/2005 cum Notice to Exporters: Series 2 (EU) No. 20/2005 all dated 17 September 2005, the Council of the EU (the Council) has adopted a Regulation to adjust the quantitative limits for imports of Chinese textiles and clothing (T&C) products covered by the EU/Mainland Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2007 to take into account the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU on 1 January 2007.

DETAILS

2. With effect from 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania, the two new Member States (MSS) of the EU, have adopted the EU's common commercial policy, including the quantitative limits or surveillance on imports of T&C products from the Mainland. Chinese T&C products covered by the EU/Mainland MOU exporting to these two countries on or after 1 January 2007 will then be subject to quantitative restrictions.

3. Since the quota levels agreed under the EU/Mainland MOU in June 2005 have not taken into account the recent enlargement of the EU, the Council adopted a Regulation on 22 January 2007 to adjust upward the quota levels for the 10 categories of Chinese T&C products concerned. The new quota levels applicable from 1 January 2007 are set out in Part A of the Annex to the Regulation, which is accessible from the EU website below:
   http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2007/l_018/l_01820070125en00010005.pdf
   
   
4. In addition, the Regulation has set out the adjusted quantitative limits for six types of textiles articles¹ re-imported into the EU under the Outward Processing Trade (OPT) arrangement in 2007. Under the OPT, relevant textiles products manufactured from EU fabrics or parts can be sent from the EU to the Mainland for processing and re-imported back to the EU under separate quota limits. The adjusted levels in 2007 for the product categories concerned are set out in Part B of the Annex to the Regulation.

ENQUIRIES

5. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 2398 5423.

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Abby Cheng)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

* 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, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

¹ Categories that can be benefited from the OPT arrangement include Cat. 4 (T-shirts), 5 (pullovers), 6 (men's trousers), 7 (blouses), 26 (dresses), and 31 (brassieres).

Note : While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the above information, the Department cannot guarantee this to be so and will not be held liable for any reliance placed on the same.