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Ref. : GL 500

22 April 2006

To : Ocean and river mode carriers
 known to the Trade and Industry Department

Dear Sirs,

Full Migration to Electronic Service for Submission of Ocean and River Manifests

Introduction

This letter informs carriers that all manifests for ocean and river cargoes must be submitted to the Government through electronic means from 16 June 2006. Details of the full migration to electronic service for the submission of ocean and river manifests and the arrangements for delivering the paper licences/notifications/documents which are required to be lodged to the Trade and Industry Department (the Department) after the full migration are set out in the following paragraphs.

Details

2.The service for electronic submission of cargo manifests (EMAN) in the air, rail, ocean and river modes of transport was launched on 11 April 2003. With the electronic service, carriers can lodge their manifests through the service providers to the Department, along with submitting their manifests to the Customs and Excise Department and the Census and Statistics Department in one go. In order to allow time for the industry to get ready for the electronic submission, a transitional period has been provided during which the cargo manifests may be lodged in either paper or electronic mode. Full migration to EMAN in the air and rail modes of transport was implemented on 17 July 2004.

3.In view of the smooth run-in of service, the Import and Export Ordinance (Specification of Ending Date under Section 42) Notice 2006, the Import and Export (Registration) Regulations (Specification of Ending Date under Regulation 15) Notice 2006, the Import and Export (General) Regulations (Specification of Ending Date under Regulation 6DAH) Notice 2006 and the Reserved Commodities (Control of Imports, Exports and Reserve Stocks) Regulations (Specification of Ending Date under Regulation 26) Notice 2006 were gazetted on 24 February 2006 to end the transitional period for the electronic submission of ocean and river manifests at midnight on 15 June 2006. As the legislative procedures have been completed, only electronic manifests, instead of both paper and electronic manifests under the current arrangements, will be accepted from ocean and river carriers from 0000 hour of 16 June 2006 onwards. In this regard, the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau has already issued a letter on 11 April 2006 to remind ocean and river carriers of the full migration. The carriers concerned shall take note of the following arrangements for delivering paper licences/notifications/required documents to the Department after the full migration.

Arrangements for Submission of Ocean and River Manifests via Electronic Service and Delivery of Paper Licences/Notifications/Required Documents to the Department After Full Migration

4.The arrangements for delivery of manifests using electronic service are set out below for information :

1. for shipments covered by textiles notifications lodged electronically under the Textiles Trader Registration Scheme, carriers only need to quote the reference number of the notifications against the relevant consignment in the electronic manifests;
2. for shipments covered by the Transhipment Cargo Exemption Scheme or the Air Cargo Transhipment Exemption Scheme for Specified Strategic Commodities, it is no longer necessary for carriers to deliver the through bill of lading or through air waybill to the Department. Carriers only need to quote their Exemption Number along the relevant consignment in the electronic manifests; and
3. for shipments of prohibited articles covered by paper licences/notifications/ required documents, carriers only need to return the carriers' copies of those paper licences/notifications/required documents received from traders to the Department, using the covering form at Annex (pdf format).

Carriers may wish to know that following the aforementioned full migration, the counter in Room 504A of the Department for receiving ocean and river cargo manifests and the paper licences/notifications/required documents will be closed starting from 16 June 2006 and the receipt acknowledgement service will discontinue. Carriers are kindly requested to drop the paper licences/notifications/required documents together with the duly completed covering forms in the trays to be provided in Room 504A with effect from the same date.

5.For the format of licence/notification/supporting document type number and the completed sample of the Annex, please refer to the guidebook on "How to Submit Cargo Manifests by Using Electronic Service" which is available at : http://www.cedb.gov.hk/citb/ehtml/pdf/gets/EMAN_Guidebook_(Eng).pdf

Enquiries

6.If you have any enquiry about the contents of this circular, please contact the following officers :

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Judy TING)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry

c.c. Air and Rail Carriers, and Forwarders Known
 to the Trade and Industry Department
 Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association
 Hong Kong Sea Transport and Logistics Association Ltd
 Hong Kong Cargo-Vessel Traders' Association Ltd
 Guangdong and Hong Kong Feeder Association Ltd
 Hongkong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics Ltd
 Hong Kong International Courier Association