Textiles Trader Registration Circular

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

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

Ref. : TID CL 4-60/1

16 February 2007

Dear Sirs,

Textiles Trader Registration Circular No. 2/2007

Textiles Trader Registration Scheme : New Fee Structure

This circular informs textiles traders of the gazettal of the Import and Export (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2007 ("the Amendment Regulation") on 16 February 2007, which introduces a new fee structure for the Textiles Trader Registration Scheme (TTRS). Subject to the passage by the Legislative Council of the Amendment Regulation, the new TTRS fee structure will be implemented in mid-2007.

Background

2. Under the current fee structure, textiles traders registered under TTRS pay an annual registration fee of HK$2,825. Thereafter, they may lodge textiles notifications either in paper form or electronically. For a paper notification, registered traders need to purchase notification forms from the Department at HK$0.5 each to cover the printing costs and other administrative charges. For lodging notifications electronically, textiles traders are required to pay the service provider, Tradelink Electronic Commerce Limited ("Tradelink"), a message fee of HK$0.5 per notification.

3. Having regard to the Government's policy of promoting electronic commerce and the revised scope of TTRS upon the global elimination of textiles quotas, the Department has conducted a review on the TTRS fee structure. After consulting the Textiles Advisory Board, the Legislative Council and other relevant parties, it was decided that a new fee structure should be introduced to provide financial incentive for textiles traders to enhance the use of electronic service so as to facilitate textiles traders and carriers to maximize their efficiency in trade documentation.

Proposed New TTRS Fee Structure

4. The proposed new TTRS fee structure is as follow -

1. The annual registration fee will be reduced from HK$ 2,825 to HK$718;

2. A new fee of HK$3.8 (i.e. the price differential between lodging a paper and an electronic notification) will be charged for each paper notification lodged, on top of the existing HK$0.5 for each paper notification form¹ . The additional charge is to reflect the difference in costs for processing paper and electronic notifications by the Department. The new fee will be payable when the registered textiles traders purchase the paper notification forms from the Department (i.e. a total of HK$4.3 will be collected for each notification form sold); and

3. The Department will not charge any fee for electronic notifications. Tradelink will continue to charge a message fee, the current rate being HK$0.5 for each electronic notification.

Implementation

5. Subject to the passage by the Legislative Council of the Amendment Regulation, the new TTRS fee structure will be implemented in mid-2007. The Director-General of Trade and Industry will publish a Commencement Notice in the Gazette to announce the exact implementation date. The Department will set out the exact implementation date as well as the detailed implementation arrangements in a separate circular to be issued in May/June 2007.

6. Textiles traders who register/renew their registration under the TTRS with a validity period commencing on or after the implementation date will be subject to the new fee structure. Textiles traders who register/renew their registration with a validity period commencing prior to the implementation date will continue to pay the existing registration fee of HK$2,825. They will not be subject to the new fee of $3.8 for lodging paper notifications. These registrants will switch over to the new TTRS fee structure when they renew their registration in 2008. In order to properly identify and differentiate the two groups of registrants under the existing and new fee structures, the Department will introduce a new set of paper notification forms for use by registrants under the new fee structure. Textiles traders are reminded to carefully plan their purchase and use of existing textiles notification forms to avoid over-stocking, bearing in mind that the old paper forms can no longer be used when the registrant switches over to the new fee structure. Unused forms will not be refunded.

7. For textiles traders whose registrations are going to expire shortly before the implementation date of the new TTRS fee structure, if they want to delay the renewal of their registration in order to take advantage of the new fee structure as soon as possible, they may make use of the consignment-specific import licences (current application fee is HK$40 per licence) and export licences (current application fee is HK$56 per licence) to cover their textiles imports and exports during the interim period before their registration is renewed under the new fee structure.

8. The Department will set out the implementation details of the new fee structure, such as the arrangements for registration/renewal of TTRS registration, sale of new notification forms and other related implementation arrangements in a separate circular to be issued in May/June 2007. Traders are reminded to pay attention to our announcement of the implementation details and plan their operation accordingly.

Enquiries

9. For enquiries on this circular, please contact the Customer Service Centre of the Origin Certification and Textiles Licensing Branch at 2398 5288.

Yours faithfully,


(Miss Karen Chan)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

¹This form charge is subject to change from time to time in accordance with the printing costs for the forms.

Note : The Chinese text of this Notice is for reference only. In case of discrepancies between the English and Chinese texts, the English text shall for all purposes be conclusive.