2. Under the Import and Export (General) Regulations, imports of textile articles are required to be under and in accordance with valid import licences issued by the Director-General of Trade. Exemptions from import licensing requirement are only provided in respect of the following :
   
   
   1. Textiles traders who have been registered under the Textiles Trader Registration Scheme are granted exemption from import licensing requirements under the Regulations (please refer to paragraphs 4 and 5 below).
      
      
   2. Textile articles imported by a person which are for his personal use or as gifts and are in a quantity which is reasonable having regard to the purpose for which they are imported are exempted from import licensing.
      
      
   3. Woven or knitted fabric swatches and sample yarn imported by air and not exceeding 0.8 m2 in size in respect of fabric swatches and 1.2 kg in weight in respect of each type of yarn are exempted from import licensing.
      
      
   4. Textile articles constituting part of the provisions required for consumption by the crew or passengers of the vessel, aircraft or vehicle on which the articles are carried are exempted from import licensing.
      
      

   For the purpose of this legislation, textiles are defined as any natural or artificial fibre products, and any combinations of natural and artificial fibre products in the form of yarn, fabrics, garments or other manufactured articles.

3. Importers of textiles which qualify for exemption from import licensing are not required to present the original copy of the relevant shipping documents to the Trade Department for an exemption endorsement before seeking release of the goods from the relevant carriers.

4. As from 1 July 1993, textiles traders (exporters, importers, manufacturers, and carriers/forwarders) may apply for registration with the Trade Department under the TTRS. Upon approval and within the validity period of their registration, they will be exempted from licensing requirements in respect of :
   1. import of textiles from all countries or places;
   2. re-export of non-Hong Kong origin textiles to all countries or places;
   3. textile exports of Hong Kong origin to non-restrained markets (that is, countries or places with which Hong Kong does not have a bilateral textiles agreement, i.e. countries other than Canada, the European Union, Norway and the USA);
   4. export of properly marked textile samples of Hong Kong origin not exceeding US$250 in free-on-board value and export of mutilated or stamped textile samples of Hong Kong origin of no commercial value, to USA; and
   5. all textiles transhipment cargoes;

   provided that they comply with the conditions of exemption/registration as set out in Textiles Trader Registration Circular No. 3/96 dated 28 March 1996 and in relevant circulars which been and may be issued by the Director-General of Trade. As a condition of exemption, registered textiles traders will be required to notify the Department of particulars of individual shipments to be exempted from licensing requirements. The relevant notification forms must be completed and submitted to the Department via the carriers at the time of importation or before exportation of the subject textiles. For details of the TTRS, please refer to Textiles Trader Registration Circular No. 1/95 dated 14 March 1996, Textiles Trader Registration Circulars No. 3/96 dated 28 March 1996 and No. 7/96 dated 29 November 1996. Copies of these circulars may be obtained at the Textiles Trader Registration Office at Counter Nos. 1-3 on 1/F, Trade Department Tower, 700 Nathan Road, Kowloon.

5. The exemption mentioned in paragraph 4 above shall not apply to textile imports and exports under the Special Export and Import Licensing (Textiles) Scheme for export of piece-knitted garments to the USA. The only exception is in respect of exports to the USA of piece-knitted garments assembled outside Hong Kong from knit-to-shape panels of foreign origin and imported into Hong Kong under Special Import Licence (Textiles) Form 8e. For details, please refer to the relevant circulars which have been and may be issued by the Director-General of Trade.

Licensing Arrangements for Textile Imports

6. Detailed licensing arrangements for import of textiles (other than knit-to-shape panels of foreign origin, and piece-knitted garments assembled outside Hong Kong under the Special Export and Import Licensing (Textiles) Scheme) into Hong Kong are set out below :
   1. Applications for import licences should be made on Import Licence (Textiles) Form 7 (Form TRA 23) which should be completed in triplicate in English or in Chinese. Forms in single set, in pads or in computer continuous form are available for sale at
      1. the Trade Department Collection Office, Room 813, Trade Department Tower, 700 Nathan Road, Kowloon; and
      2. the Government Publication Centre, Queensway Government Office, Low Block, G/F, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong.
   2. An application fee currently at HK$37 per licence application is required and is to be paid in the form of adhesive or impressed postage stamps affixed or franked onto the appropriate space provided onto the top right-hand corner of the original copy of the licence application. Torn or defaced stamps are not accepted.
   3. All applications should be submitted by hand to Non-Restrained Textiles Branch on 2/F, Trade Department Tower, 700 Nathan Road, Kowloon. Provided that there are no complications, import licences will be processed and approved, and ready for issue at the appropriate counters on 2/F after two clear working days (excluding Sundays and public holidays) following the date of submission of the licence applications. The opening hours of the Receiving and Issuing Counters are as below :
      
      

      Monday to Friday	8:45 am - 12:30 pm 1:30 pm - 5:00 pm
      Saturday	9:00 am - 12:30 pm

      The original copy of an import licence will be retained by the Department. The duplicate and the triplicate of the licence will be issued to the applicant, who should keep the duplicate for his own reference and present the triplicate to the carrier prior to importation of textiles.

   4. Import licences must be applied for on an individual consignment basis, i.e. each licence may cover only one consignment of textile imports. In this connection, textile goods imported on the same carrier from the same foreign exporter to the same Hong Kong importer may be regarded as one consignment. Each licence application must not cover more than seven commodity items.
   5. Import licences are valid for 28 days from the date of issue.
   6. Amendment and Cancellation of Import Licences
      1. No erasure or correcting fluid is allowed on licence applications. If there are typing errors, the amendments should be made in the same language as the form is completed in the first place. Every amendment should be endorsed by stamping the applicant company's small amendment chop in blue and initialling with date next to each amendment. The amendments made must be clear and legible, and must not deface any other particulars on the application. No more than five areas of amendment chops are allowed for each application.
      2. Requests for amendment or cancellation of import licences after issue must be made on standard forms obtainable from Non-Restrained Textiles Branch on 2/F, Trade Department Tower, 700 Nathan Road, Kowloon. Amendment requests should be made within one calendar month after the date of arrival of the textiles. Provided that there are no complications, amendment requests will be processed and amended import licences will be ready for issue after one clear working day (excluding Sundays and public holidays) following the date of submission of the requests. Cancellation requests should be made within one calendar month after expiry of the relevant import licences. The Department will acknowledge receipt of all cancellation requests received.
   7. Applications for Retrospective Import Licences

      The Department does not normally accept applications for import licences submitted after the subject textiles have been imported into Hong Kong. Late applications may be accepted only if the applicant can provide the following supporting documents :

      1. a letter (see specimen letter at Appendix I) giving reason(s) for late application and declaring whether the applicant company has taken delivery of the goods from the carrier;
      2. the relevant shipping documents (e.g. import manifest (if by road), bill of lading (if by sea), airwaybill (if by air)); and
      3. any other relevant supporting documents (e.g. invoice, packing list) may be requested as necessary to support the late application.

      Late applications should be submitted to Non-Restrained Textiles Branch on 2/F, Trade Department Tower, 700 Nathan Road. Provided that there are no complications and the Department is satisfied with the explanations provided in respect of the late application, a retrospective import licence will be issued to the applicant after three clear working days (excluding Sundays and public holidays) following the date of submission of the application.

   8. Licensing Arrangements for Hand-carried Textile Goods for Commercial Purposes

      In cases of genuine difficulty in complying with the prior import licensing requirement, passengers who carry textile goods for commercial purposes in their accompanied baggages may be permitted to bring the goods into Hong Kong provided that they :

      1. lodge a report with the Customs and Excise Department upon arrival;
      2. submit a retrospective import licence application to the Trade Department immediately after the arrival of the goods, together with photocopies of the importer's relevant entry documents (e.g. passport) showing the exact date of arrival; and
      3. make the following declaration in the "Full Description of Goods" column of the licence application :

      "Hand-carried goods" For detailed application procedures for retrospective import licences, please see paragraph 6(G) above.

   9. Licensing Arrangements for Import of Returned Textiles Goods

      For import of returned textiles goods, the licence application must be supported by photocopy(ies) of the relevant export licence(s) or export notification(s) against which the subject consignment was first exported. In addition, the following declaration should be made in the "Full Description of Goods" column of the import licence application :

      "Returned cargo previously exported to (name of country) under Export Licence(s)/Export Notification* I/II/III/IV* No(s) , (a) true copy(ies) of which is(are) attached herewith in support of this application." (*delete as appropriate)

   10. Licensing Arrangements for Textiles Goods Imported through Courier Companies

       A courier company bringing textiles goods into Hong Kong through air freight services or on-board couriers is an importer of the subject textiles in the context of the Import and Export Ordinance Cap 60 even though that company may not be the consignee of the subject textiles. Courier companies are therefore reminded that prior import licences must be obtained or Import Notifications (Textiles) be filed to cover textiles consignments brought into Hong Kong by them. Textiles consignments imported by courier companies normally have the following characteristics :-

       1. each consolidated consignment normally involves many different local consignees;
       2. the quantities involved in individual consignments (as in accordance with house waybill) are small and usually within the following quantitative limits :
          1. 60 pieces/pairs of garments; or
          2. 80 square metres of woven fabrics; or
          3. 60 units of made up articles; or
          4. 30 kilograms of garment parts or yarn or knitted fabrics.
       3. the consignments are usually imported by air for express delivery.

          Consignments imported on the same flight/vessel/vehicle for delivery to different consignees are normally allowed to be grouped under one import licence application provided that :

          1. each licence application covers up to a maximum of seven product items;
          2. .the Master Waybill number and the House Waybill numbers are provided in the "Mark(s) and Number(s)" column of the licence application;
          3. there is only one declared importer and one exporter in respect of the product items listed. In this connection, the Department will accept the Hong Kong courier company being declared as the importer and the overseas office of the courier company being declared as the exporter; and
          4. if the consignments are brought in by on-board couriers, an additional code 'OBC' should be entered in the "Vessel/Flight/Vehicle No." column (e.g. for consignments imported by flight no. CX008 through on-board courier, "CX008/OBC" should be stated in this column).

          Courier companies which submit licence applications after the arrival of the textile consignments will be required to follow the licensing arrangements for retrospective import licence applications, details of which are outlined in paragraph 6(G) above.

       For details on how to complete Import Licence (Textiles) Form 7, please refer to the pamphlet "How to Apply Textiles Import Licence (Form 7)", obtainable at Non-Restrained Textiles Branch at Counter 11 on 2/F, Trade Department Tower.

Important Warning

7. Importers should note that submission of late applications in respect of paragraph 6(G) above does not imply automatic approval of retrospective import licences, and the issue of retrospective import licences is without prejudice to any legal and/or administrative actions the Director-General of Trade may take in respect of the importation of the consignments concerned. The Department may also institute legal actions against importers who fail to provide satisfactory explanations in respect of their late applications.
   
   
8. Under Section 6C of the Import and Export Ordinance, no person shall import textiles into Hong Kong except under and in accordance with a valid import licence, unless otherwise exempted by the Director-General of Trade (see paragraphs 4 and 5 above). Any person who contravenes this sub-section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine of $500,000 and to imprisonment for two years. This is also applicable to the courier company (in addition to the consignee) in respect of the circumstances mentioned in paragraph 6(J) above.
   
   
9. Section 7 of the Import and Export Ordinance states that transportation, shipping and airline companies should not release any textile goods imported into Hong Kong to any person without the production of a valid textile import licence. Failure to comply with this requirement shall be liable to a fine of $500,000 and to imprisonment for one year.
   
   
10. Under Section 8 of the Import and Export Ordinance, an importer shall present the textile import licence issued by the Trade Department to the owner of the vessel, aircraft or vehicle in or on which the textile consignment is imported within seven days after the day on which the consignment was imported. The carrier company shall, within seven days after receiving the textile import licence against which the textile consignment has been released, return the textile import licence together with the relevant manifest to the Trade Department. Failure to comply with any of the above requirements shall be liable to a fine of $5,000.
    
    
11. Section 36(1) of the Import and Export Ordinance provides that any person who furnishes false or misleading information on an import licence application shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to fine of $500,000 and to imprisonment for two years.
    
    
12. Importers should note that physical checks on textile consignments are conducted by officers of the Customs and Excise Department to verify the accuracy of material particulars declared on import licence applications/import licences. The Department works closely with the Customs and Excise Department to check whether textile articles are imported under and in accordance with a licence or a relevant notification.

13. Enquiries relating to textile import licensing requirements/arrangements should be directed to :

    Textiles Import Licensing Section - 2398 5464
    Mr C Y Wong - 2398 5459

14. Enquiries on the TTRS should be addressed to :

    Textiles Trader Registration Office - 2398 5476
    Notification - 2398 5472
    Mr C K Siu - 2398 5473