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INDUSTRY AND TRADE
square yards as made-up items or garments. The flexibility provisions include an annual growth rate of 1 per cent and a measure of an- ticipation and carry-over. Consultations were held with the Italian Government regarding exports of certain made-up goods, as a result of which revised certification requirements were introduced. In all the textiles negotiations referred to, the Director of Commerce and Industry was guided by the advice of the Cotton Advisory Board. Members of the board accompanied officials to Washington and Ottawa in the office of unofficial advisers.
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Outside the field of cotton textiles, the year saw the implementa- tion of a two-year agreement reached with the Federal Republic of Germany in February, in accordance with which Hong Kong under- took to restrain exports of woollen knitted outerwear to a level of 875,000 dozens in 1966 and 960,000 dozens in 1967. Previously such exports had been regulated by a system of export authorizations only. The specific restraint agreement followed a sharp increase in export authorization commitments in early January, partly due to pent-up demand resulting from the temporary suspension of such authorizations in late 1965. In order to prevent speculation and distortion of trade, the Director of Commerce and Industry, acting on the advice of the Trade and Industry Advisory Board, again suspended issue while consultation with the Federal German author- ities took place. The trade resumed on conclusion of the restraint agreement, under a system of allocations devised on the basis of recommendations by a wool committee of the Trade and Industry Advisory Board which had been formed in the interim. Certain amendments to the agreement were negotiated in Hong Kong in July as a result of German concern over increased imports of Hong Kong origin knitwear from third countries.
DOCUMENTATION OF EXPORTS
Import and export licensing formalities are kept to a minimum consistent with Hong Kong's international obligations and the spirit of free trade. Complex procedures have had to be established, however, to ensure that Hong Kong's responsibilities in respect of restraints on cotton textile exports are discharged.
With the growth in exports of Hong Kong products in absolute and relative terms, certification of Hong Kong origin has become