More trade documents to be covered by electronic submission
Tuesday, March 28, 2000

The Trade Department will extend the scope of the electronic data interchange (EDI) service to cover more trade documents in the near future following the successful implementation of EDI service for Production Notification (PN) and Certificate of Origin (CO) last year.

This is one of the commitments set out in the Trade Department's new performance pledge announced today (March 28).

Other improved pledges include shortening the processing time for six service items and the introduction of performance targets for EDI service for PN and CO.

Announcing the new performance pledge for year 2000, the Director-General of Trade, Mr Joshua Law said, "the Government is committed to the wider use of EDI service in Hong Kong's business community as a means to enhance its efficiency and competitiveness."

"So far the Trade Department has successfully implemented full migration of EDI service for two documents - Restrained Textiles Export Licence in January 1999 and PN in February this year. Full EDI for CO is scheduled to take place later this year.

"Our plan to extend the coverage of EDI service will certainly help to facilitate our traders and maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness." Mr Law said.

Reviewing the department's performance in meeting the pledge targets last year, Mr Law said more than 150 surveys were conducted at intervals randomly selected by computer to check whether the standard of our services met our pledge. The surveys revealed that we had met our performance targets in full.

"The Department continued to gear up its facilities last year to meet the needs of the trading community. We opened our third customer service centre in July 1999 and a combined registration office for Textiles Trader Registration, Textiles Controls Registration and Factory Registration in September 1999. We plan to open the fourth customer service centre later this year.

"To facilitate traders further, working hours of our Collection and Form Sales Office have been extended since June 1999. The office was later moved to a more convenient location in November last year, " added Mr Law.

"In a bid to make the best use of the Internet to serve traders, the Trade Department also launched last year an online status checking service for strategic commodities licence applications, and an email notification service to inform traders automatically of updates of the Department's homepage.

"We will continue to look for areas for improvements to our services. We welcome feedback and suggestions to help us serve our customers better." said Mr Law.

Copies of the Trade Department Performance Pledge 2000 booklet printed in English and Chinese versions are now available at the information counter of the Trade Department at 700 Nathan Road, Ground Floor, Trade Department Tower, Mong Kok.