Commercial Information Circulars

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Ref : CR EIC 230/1/5/14

14 December 2006

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 501/2006

European Union (EU)* : Alignment of Customs Tariff and Anti-dumping Measures upon EU Enlargement

The EU will be joined by two new member states, Bulgaria and Romania, on 1 January 2007. Upon accession to the EU, these two member states will align their trade regimes with that of the EU. Areas of direct interest to Hong Kong include alignment of customs tariff and anti-dumping measures.

DETAILS

2. Following the successful conclusion of the accession negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania, the signing of the Treaty of Accession (the Treaty) in Luxembourg, and the ratification of the Treaty by all the 25 current member states and the two acceding member states, the accession will take place on 1 January 2007. From that day onwards, Bulgaria and Romania will apply the EU's common commercial policy, including the common customs tariff (CCT), and trade defence measures such as anti-dumping duties.

Alignment of Tariff

3. The EU's CCT will apply to the new member states starting 1 January 2007. As far as Hong Kong's major domestic exports to Bulgaria and Romania are concerned, their existing tariff rates are higher than the EU's CCT for most product sectors. As a whole, the adoption of the CCT would bring down the total tariff payable for Hong Kong's domestic exports to these new member states.

Application of Existing EU Anti-Dumping Measures

4. Anti-dumping measures currently in force in the EU** will be automatically extended to the two new member states after their accession. According to the attached (pdf format) notice published by the European Commission (the Commission) on 7 December 2006, third country exporters to the EU may request for a review of any extended measures provided they submit sufficient evidence to show that circumstances have changed following the EU enlargement. For the pending anti-dumping investigations initiated before 1 January 2007, anti-dumping measures, if imposed upon conclusion of the investigations, will apply to imports into all 27 member states. Interested parties are invited to visit the Commission's trade defence enlargement website (under http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/respectrules/tdi_enlarg/index_en.htm) for further information.
5. Interested parties may also contact the Commission's help desk for questions regarding anti dumping (contact information of the help desk can be accessed through the link http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/respectrules/tdi_enlarg/contacts.htm).

Domestic Exports to the New Member States

6. Hong Kong's trade volume with the two new member states is small. In the first 10 months of 2006, Hong Kong's domestic exports to Bulgaria and Romania totalled HK$26.8 million which was equivalent to 0.11% of Hong Kong's total domestic exports to the current 25 EU member states (or 0.02% of total domestic exports worldwide).

ENQUIRIES

7. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5350.

Yours faithfully,

(Bill WONG)
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.

**There is no current EU anti-dumping measure against products originating in Hong Kong.