24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

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

Ref : CS/DI/4/59

31 March 2006

Dear Sirs,

Certificate of Origin Circular No. 5/2006

Migration of Electronic Services of Certificate of Origin and Production Notification
to Government Electronic Trading Services Platform

INTRODUCTION

This circular informs traders that the electronic services of Certificate of Origin ("CO")¹ and Production Notification ("PN") are tentatively scheduled for migration to the Government Electronic Trading Services ("GETS") platform in late June/early July 2006.

DETAILS

Migration to the GETS Platform

2. To prepare for the migration, starting from 1 April 2006, Tradelink Electronic Commerce Limited ("Tradelink") will contact its CO and PN customers individually to arrange for the installation of an upgraded software which supports the GETS requirements. Subject to the completion of the software upgrade for customers, migration of the electronic services of CO and PN to the GETS platform is tentatively scheduled to take place in late June/early July 2006. Upon migration, GETS compliant features of the upgraded software for customers will be activated automatically. Traders will be informed of the exact timing of the migration through a Certificate of Origin Circular in advance for their due preparation. 

Benefits of the Migration

3. In addition to the proven benefits of the Electronic Data Interchange ("EDI") service, migration to the GETS platform with the upgraded software will further bring forth the following benefits :

1. Direct Traditional Chinese input for CO(CEPA) : Traditional Chinese input of the following fields of CO(CEPA)² can be directly performed through the services provided by Tradelink upon migration. This will obviate the need for exporters to submit these fields in English in the traditional EDI messages through Tradelink and the corresponding Supplementary Information ("SI") through the Trade and Industry Department's Web Portal ("TID's Web Portal")³ . 

1. exporter's name and address;
   
   
2. consignee's name and address;
   
   
3. notifying party's name and address (if applicable); 
   
   
4. vessel/flight/train/vehicle number (if applicable);
   
   
5. marks, numbers and container number (if applicable);
   
   
6. description of goods (both the exporter and the manufacturer should ensure that the same description has been used in their respective messages else applications submitted may be rejected by Tradelink); and
   
   
7. brand names or labels (if applicable)
   

2. New Field for Mainland Harmonised System ("HS") Code for CO(CEPA): A new mandatory field "Mainland HS Code" will be provided so that there is no need for exporters to input the Mainland HS code in the first 8 spaces of the field "Product Description" for each individual product item of CO(CEPA) applications. Exporters should directly input the Mainland HS code in the field "Mainland HS Code". 
   
   
3. Support of Digital Certificates : Traders can choose to use the digital certificates issued by the recognised certification authorities ("RCA") (currently Hongkong Post and Digi-Sign Certification Services Limited) when signing electronic messages of CO and/or PN. Traders who wish to use digital certificates issued by Hongkong Post after the migration can contact Tradelink for the detailed arrangements. Irrespective of the digital certificates used to sign the messages, manufacturers (and the subcontractors) have to ensure that the persons registered with Tradelink for signing the electronic messages are identical to the authorised signatories provided to the Trade and Industry Department else CO applications and/or PNs submitted will be deferred/rejected by the Government. 
   
   
4. Support of Extensible Markup Language ("XML") Format : The traditional EDI messages will be replaced by messages in XML format, which is well known for its high compatibility in linking up with systems. Traders can continue to view EDI messages submitted before migration. However, all messages submitted after the migration must be in XML format.
   

Tradelink will separately inform traders of the enhancements made to and benefits brought by the upgraded software, including the improved usability, stability in the submission process, and the benefits as described in this paragraph.

CONDITIONS/REQUIREMENTS FOR CO AND PN

4. The purpose of the exercise is mainly to migrate traders to a new platform with additional language support of Traditional Chinese for CO(CEPA) applications. The conditions/requirements of CO and PN will not be affected by this migration exercise. Traders may wish to refer to the "Guidance Notes on Lodging Electronic Production Notification (PN)" available at the Customer Service Centre or at the homepage of the Trade and Industry Department. Traders may also wish to refer to Certificate of Origin Circulars issued by the Director-General of Trade and Industry from time to time on CO applications and PN lodgements.

IMPORTANT NOTE

5. While Tradelink will provide assistance and support to traders as necessary for the upgraded software installation, traders are reminded that timely completion of the software upgrade is important else CO applications and PNs submitted will be rejected upon migration to the GETS platform tentatively scheduled in late June/early July 2006. 
   
   
6. Traders are also reminded that in making use of Tradelink's CO and/or PN service, traders have authorised Tradelink to send and receive electronic messages as well as the relevant code(s) related to the application to and from the Government, including those messages that may require format transformation in order to meet GETS requirement. Messages are deemed to have been sent to the Government upon receipt of the acknowledgement messages issued by Tradelink.
   

ENQUIRES

7. Should you require further information on this circular, please contact the following offices of Tradelink or the Trade and Industry Department :

Yours faithfully,



(Paul Shen)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry

1. Including Certificate of Hong Kong Origin ("CHKO"), Certificate of Processing ("CP") and Certificate of Hong Kong Origin - CEPA ("CO(CEPA)").

2. For other fields, there is no change in the input format. In other words, they should continue to be completed in either English (or for exceptional cases, other languages) or numeric, where appropriate. 

3. To facilitate exporters in completing Traditional Chinese using Tradelink's service to submit CO(CEPA) applications with SI made before the migration, exporters can input the "Transaction Number" of SI to review the Chinese information so inputted through TID's Web Portal.