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INDUSTRY AND TRADE
The Short Term Arrangement for trade in cotton textiles sponsored by the GATT, which came into force on 1st October 1961, gave rise to requests from Canada and America for restraint on the Colony's exports of certain categories of goods to these countries in February and March 1962. After accepting these requests the Commerce and Industry Department enforced the controls necessary by means of export licences and, where advis- able, the allocation of quotas. Similar arrangements were in hand at the end of the year to control exports of certain cotton textiles to these countries and also to West Germany and Norway under the Long Term Arrangement which came into effect on 1st October 1962 (details of the requests made under the Short and Long Term Arrangements are given earlier in this chapter).
The Cotton Advisory Board advised Government on the content and application of the undertaking to Britain, and on the imple- mentation of the Short and Long Term Arrangements.
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DOCUMENTATION OF ORIGIN
With the growth in the export of Hong Kong products, the certification of origin of locally manufactured goods has become increasingly important. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the Indian Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Manufacturers' Association and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce issue certificates of Hong Kong origin which are acceptable in varying degrees to overseas authorities. Some of these associations also issue certifi- cates of other than Hong Kong origin in respect of goods entering the entrepôt trade.
Many overseas authorities, however, continue to require im- ports of Hong Kong products to be covered by certificates of origin issued by the Commerce and Industry Department. Since Hong Kong has practically no raw materials, the origin of goods manu- factured by local factories is established by the work carried out in processing imported materials or transforming them into entirely new products. During 1962 the Commerce and Industry Depart- ment, by a system of factory registration and inspection, continued to ensure that the goods certified were in fact entitled to claim Hong Kong origin.