N.V. No. 273
HOTE VERDALD
Her Britannic Majesty's Embassy present their compliments to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have the honour to submit the following
note on behalf of the Hong Kong Government regarding the requiremento
for Consular endorsements of Hong Kong Certificates of Origin on exports to Italy.
A problem first arose when the Italian Ministry of Finance issued
a circular in October 1966 abolishing the requirement for such cortificates,
with the exception of certain products imported from Hong Kong, Macao and
Singapore.
It is also a requiremont that certificates of origin should be
endorsed at an Italian Consulate. Before the 1st July, 1967, the Italian
Consulate-Coneral in Hong Kong levied a standard fee of lire 3,000 (HK 28.50) for such endorsements. However, since then this standard fee
has been replaced by a sliding scale of charges which increases with the
value of the shipment.
It is appreciated that the geographical position of Hong Kong and
her status as a free port could give cause for concern as to the true
origin of goods exported from her territory. For this reason, and to
protect the status of her own industrial exports, the Hong Kong Government
has built up a very rigorous system for issuing certificates of origin.
The zocognised certificate-issuing bodies all adopt similar rules under
Government co-ordination; inspection is carried out by trained government
officers and all Hong Kong certificates of origin are protected by appropriate legislation, including heavy ponelties for offences. The importance of this system is attested by the fact that 80 per cent of all Hong Kong exports are
now of domestic origin and only 20 per cent are re-exports; and the high
/ standards
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