AFT
NOTE VERBALE
Her Majesty's Embassy present their compliments to the Ministry
of Foreign Trade and on behalf of the Hong Kong Government have the
honour to refer to the requirements for Consular endorsements by
the Italian Consulate-General at Hong Kong in respect of Certificates
of Origin for exports of Hong Kong manufacture to Italy.
The problem of restriction arose on the 5th October 1966
the Italian Ministry of Finance issued a circular abolishing the
requirement for certificates of origin except for imports of a few
products and goods shipped from Hong Kong, Macay and Singapore.
It is appreciated that the unique geographical sighting of
Hong Kong (a free port on the mainland of Communist China with whom
she still maintains much entropot trade) is one which could give
cause for concern.as to the true provenence of goods exported from
her territory. The Hong Kong Government recognising this concern
created the Hong Kong certificate of origin system to avoid the
possibility of false declaration, It is stressed that all attempts
have been made to ensure the system is as foolproof as possible.
Hong Kong certificates of origin are protected by appropriate
legislation including sanctions for offences.
The Hong Kong Government question whether in view of their
evident determination to operate as secure a system as possible
the present situation requires their certificates of origin to be
endorsed by Italian Consulate-General. The Hong Kong Government
would be prepared to discuss the operation of their certificate
of origin system with the Italian Government.
As the Hong Kong Government believe these arrangements to
certify the origin of Hong Kong products provide adequate safeguard
against the possibility of imports from other countries entering
/Italy