24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

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

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

21 June 2005

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 216/2005

Notice to Exporters: Series 2 (EU) No. 13/2005

European Union (EU)* : Import Arrangement for Chinese Textiles and Clothing Products under the EU/Mainland Memorandum of Understanding

Further to the Commercial Information Circular No. 207/2005 cum Notice to Exporters: Series 2 (EU) No. 12/2005 all dated 14 June 2005, the European Commission (EC) has announced the import arrangement (at Annex (pdf format)) for the 10 categories of Chinese textiles and clothing (T & C) products subject to quantitative limits under the EU/Mainland Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Details

2. The EC announced on 17 June 2005 that import of the 10 categories of Chinese T & C products into the EU will be subject to the following requirement when the new regulation for the implementation of the EU/Mainland MOU enters into force (expected to be around end June 2005).

For goods shipped prior to 11 June 2005

1. They will not be subject to quantitative limits;
2. Member States licensing offices will issue import licences upon presentation of the bill of lading, in addition to the usual documents;
3. The import authorisation issued will be an import licence in place of a surveillance document. All surveillance documents for the affected categories will become invalid as from the date of entry into force of the new regulation.

For goods shipped on or after 11 June 2005

1. They will be subject to quantitative limits;
2. A valid export licence will be mandatory when applying for an import authorisation;
3. The import authorisation issued will be an import licence.

Interim Arrangement 

3. Before the new regulation takes effect, import of the affected categories of Chinese T & C products into the EU will continue to be subject to the current system of prior import surveillance requirement in the form of automatic import licensing, but the importers are additionally required to present a copy of the bill of lading to the Member States licensing office when applying for an automatic import licence. Moreover, all the categories concerned (except category 115 for which an origin declaration is required) are currently required to be accompanied by a certificate of origin for customs clearance. Details of the relevant requirements are set out in Commercial Information Circular No. 331/2004 cum Notice to Exporters: Series 2 (EU) No. 38/2004 dated 15 December 2004 and Commercial Information Circular No. 52/2005 cum Notice to Exporters: Series 2 (EU) No. 3/2005 dated 16 February 2005 respectively. 

Enquiries

4. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 2398 5427.

Yours faithfully,



(Miss Sheree FU)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry

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

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.