+
CONFIDENTIAL
3 -
Nature of Links
機密
Branch/Agency
6. Economic
Remarks
(a)
Services Branch
Member of the Commonwealth Air
(a)
Transport Council (CATC). Benefits mainly in information exchange.
Alternative sources of information exist; continued link with the Council therefore not necessary. There are proposals to either winding up the Council or
transferring all its functions to the Commonwealth
Secretariat.
(b)
On the shipping side, Hong Kong conducts
(b)
No useful purpose to
continue this link
after 1997.
examinations and
issues certificates
of competency with Commonwealth
validity.
(c) Hong Kong has
informal
understandings with
some Commonwealth
countries on adopting
a common
interpretation of international safety standards for, and the rendering of mutual assistance in, surveys of ships. These understandings aim at facilitating the implementation of certain international maritime conventions.
(c)
With the
establishment of the
Hong Kong shipping
register and the authorisation of
classification
societies to conduct
surveys of
HK-registered ships, there is now rarely a need for HKG to seek the assistance of other governments in this regard. Such assistance, if required, is now usually requested on a case-by-case basis. Mutual understandings may now be reached with any foreign country (not confined to Commonwealth ones) at
any time, but
experience so far
indicates that there
is no need to do so.
CONFIDENTIAL
機密