28.5.69.
27
134
48
Italy
Add.5
Fees for consular endorsement of cortificates of origin
22
12/41
Spec (69)64 Page 181
Hong Kong United States
The Italian Government requires certificates of origin from very few sources including Hong Kong. The certificates of origin must be endorsed by the Italian Consulate General, This endorsement involves stamping and charging of fees. These charges range from US$3.30 for consignments valued below US$825 to US$16.50 for consignments valued over US$3,300.
The representative of Hong Kong said that the requirement of certificates of origin was discriminatory since it was only required for Hong Kong and a few other. countries. The fact that a fee was charged for the endorsement meant that an additional discriminatory tariff was levied. There was no need for such an endorsement since certificates of origin in Hong Kong were issued by competent authorities under Government supervision, and the authorities had to conform to rules laid down by a Certification Co-ordination Committee.
The representative of Italy confirmed that the fee charges by the Italian Consulate General in Hong Kong for consular endorsement of certificates of origin amounted to:
Lit 2,000 for consignrent up to a value of Lit 500,000 (0.4 per cent) Lit 5,000 for consignment up to a value of Lit 2,000,000 (0.2 per cent)
Lit 10,000 for consignment of a value of more than Lit 2,000,000.
!
He stressed that the fee could hardly be considered to be excessive. On the other hand it was limited to the approximate amount of the services rendered, and it did not constitute an indirect protection of national production or a fiscal import tax,
Consequently, he considered that the imposition of the fee was in conformity with the provisions of Article VIII of GATT.