Lifting of the Registration Requirement on Owners of Vessel, Aircraft or Vehicle

Registration Requirement on Owners

4. Registration is an integral part of the rough diamond control system to help trace the movement and transaction of rough diamonds. Regulation 6DB of the Import and Export (General) Regulations (Cap. 60, subsidiary legislation A of the Laws of Hong Kong) provides that any person who carries on a business of "importing, exporting, buying, selling or carrying" rough diamonds is required to register as a registered rough diamond trader with the Director-General of Trade and Industry (DGTI) and contravention of the requirement is an offence. At present, the provision on "carrying" of rough diamonds mainly captures owners of vessel, aircraft or vehicle, couriers, freight forwarders and other transportation companies (e.g. security companies). 
    
5. The Trade and Industry Department, in consultation with the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau and the Customs and Excise Department, had reviewed the registration requirement on the "carrying" of rough diamonds by an "owner of a vessel, aircraft or vehicle" ("owner") as defined in section 2 of the Import and Export Ordinance ("the Ordinance") (Cap. 60 of the Laws of Hong Kong). Under this section, an owner, in respect of a vessel, aircraft or vehicle, means -

1. the registered owner and any person holding himself out to be the owner thereof;
2. any person acting as agent for the owner in connexion with the handling of cargo carried in or on the vessel, aircraft or vehicle;
3. any person to whom the vessel, aircraft or vehicle has been chartered or hired; and
4. any person having for the time being the control or management of the vessel, aircraft or vehicle.

6. Certain obligations are imposed on an owner under the Ordinance when rough diamonds are imported or exported on his vessel, aircraft or vehicle. It is an owner's obligation –

1. not to release rough diamonds imported unless there is a valid import licence , i.e., KP Certificate (Import), for the shipment (section 7(1));
2. not to accept rough diamonds for export unless there is a valid export licence, i.e., KP Certificate (Export), for the shipment (section10(1)(a)); 
3. to deliver to DGTI the import licence, i.e., KP Certificate (Import), for the shipment together with the manifest of the vessel, aircraft or vehicle on which the goods were imported (section 8(2)(b)); and
4. to deliver to DGTI the export licence, i.e. KP Certificate (Export), for the shipment together with the manifest of the vessel, aircraft or vehicle on which the goods were exported (section 11(2)(b)).

Failure to fulfill the obligations shall be liable on conviction to a fine and imprisonment. 

7. We consider that the obligations imposed upon an owner in paragraph 6 above should suffice for the effective monitoring of import and export of rough diamonds into and out of Hong Kong carried by an owner for the purpose of the KP. There is no overriding need for a trader registration requirement on an owner who is also a carrier as aforementioned. We therefore propose to lift the registration requirement in paragraph 6 on those owners, which should relieve them from incurring compliance cost. 
    
8. Notwithstanding the above, a party carrying on a business of carrying rough diamonds and is not an owner subject to sections 7(1), 8(2)(b), 10(1)(a) and 11(2)(b) of the Ordinance will NOT be covered under the proposed lifting of registration requirement.
    
9. Besides, the registration requirement on an owner who, apart from carrying rough diamonds, also carries on a business of importing, exporting, buying or selling rough diamonds will continue so as to facilitate the tracing of the transactions of rough diamonds effectively. 

Refund to Owners

10. At present, each registration as a rough diamond trader is valid for a period of two years. With the lifting of the registration requirement on an owner-cum-carrier suggested in paragraph 7 above, we plan to refund, upon application after commencement of the relevant legislative amendment scheduled for 15 May 2006, the initial registration or registration renewal fees for the part of services not yet rendered to an owner. After the making of refund, DGTI will remove the name of the owner from the register of rough diamond traders. The detailed refund arrangements are as follows -

1. if a registrant is deregistered during his first year of registration (whether it is an initial registration or renewal), the amount to be refunded is the unutilized fee of HK$275 (being the administrative cost calculated for the second year of the initial or renewed registration); or
2. if a registrant is deregistered during his second year of registration (whether it is an initial registration or renewal), the amount to be refunded is that part of the unutilized fee, calculated on a pro rata basis by reference to the unexpired term of the registration period over 365 days.

The procedures for making applications for refund by owners will be announced in a separate circular in mid-April 2006.

Consequential Arrangements for Owners Handling Rough Diamonds in Transit² , as Air Transhipment Cargo³ or Transhipment⁴

(i) Rough Diamonds in Transit or as Air Transhipment Cargo

11. Currently, no KP Certificate (Import) and KP Certificate (Export) are required for consignment of rough diamonds in transit or as air transhipment cargo, provided that the rough diamonds are sealed in a container, the container has not been tampered with, and the seals on the container remain intact, in accordance with the provisions in reg 6DF of Cap. 60A. The same exemption will also apply to an owner-cum-carrier suggested in paragraph 7 above in handling rough diamonds in transit or as air transhipment cargo, following the lifting of the registration requirement, provided that the rough diamonds are sealed in a container, the container has not been tampered with and the seals on the container remain intact.

(ii) Other Modes of Transhipment of Rough Diamonds

12. At present, transhipment of rough diamonds by other modes (other than air transhipment cargo) covered by through bill of lading or through air waybill may be exempted from the KP import and export certification requirements, provided that the handlers have been registered with DGTI as rough diamond traders, have applied for Rough Diamonds Transhipment Exemption and have complied with the Conditions of Exemption. 
     
13. As rough diamond trader registration would no longer be required for the aforementioned owners-cum-carriers, to enable them to continue to enjoy exemption from the KP import and export certification requirements for transhipment of rough diamonds by other modes (other than air transhipment cargo) covered by through bill of lading or through air waybill, we shall include "rough diamonds" under the existing Transhipment Cargo Exemption Scheme (TCES) upon implementation of the lifting of the registration requirement on owners scheduled for 15 May 2006. With this proposed arrangement, owners handling transhipment of rough diamonds would no longer need to register for Rough Diamonds Transhipment Exemption. Instead, they would only need to register under the TCES and comply with the new conditions of exemption for transhipment of rough diamonds under the TCES, which will be announced in a separate circular in mid-April 2006. 

III. ENQUIRIES

14. If you have any enquiry on the content of this circular, please contact the following :

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Susanna Suen)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry

1. The KP is a negotiating forum originated from discussions in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) regarding rebel activities in some parts of Africa. It seeks to stop trade in conflict diamonds (rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflicts aimed at undermining legitimate governments, as described in relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, and as understood and recognised in the relevant UNGA Resolutions) from fuelling armed conflicts, activities of rebel movements and illicit proliferation of armament. The KP Certification Scheme (KPCS) for rough diamonds was launched by the KP on 1 January 2003. The KPCS in Hong Kong, which comprises a registration system for rough diamond traders and a certification scheme for the import and export of rough diamonds, was implemented on 2 January 2003.

2. Under the Ordinance, an article in transit means an article which is brought into Hong Kong solely for the purpose of taking it out of Hong Kong and remains at all times in or on the vessel or aircraft in or on which it is brought into Hong Kong.

3. Under the Ordinance, air transhipment cargo means an article that is both imported and consigned for export in an aircraft and which, during the period between its import and export, remains within the cargo transhipment area of the Hong Kong International Airport.

4. Under the Ordinance, transhipment cargo means any imported article that (a) is consigned on a through bill of lading or a through air waybill from a place outside Hong Kong to another place outside Hong Kong; and (b) is or is to be removed from the vessel, aircraft or vehicle in which it was imported and either returned to the same vessel, aircraft or vehicle or transferred to another vessel, aircraft or vehicle before being exported, whether it is or is to be transferred directly between such vessels, aircraft or vehicles or whether it is to be landed in Hong Kong after its importation and stored, pending exportation.