INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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period is equivalent to 8.2 million square yards and there is provi- sion for five per cent swing between categories.
Outside the ambit of the Long-Term Agreement, Hong Kong's exports to Britain of cotton yarn, cotton woven piecegoods, clothing and made-up articles are limited under an agreement reached in 1966. This agreement, which runs for five years, provides in 1967 for the export of 6.36 million pounds of cotton yarn and the equiv- alent of 189.23 million square yards in the piecegoods, clothing and made-ups groups combined.
The year also saw the revision and extension, to the end of 1969, of the two-year agreement reached with the Federal Republic of Germany, in February 1966, on Hong Kong's exports of woollen, knitted outerwear. The revised annual limits for the three years 1967, 1968 and 1969 are 825,000, 875,000 and 925,000 dozens respectively. The agreement provides for three per cent carryover per annum.
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.
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With the growth in exports of Hong Kong products in absolute and relative terms, certification of Hong Kong origin has become vitally important to the economy. Since Hong Kong has practically no raw materials, the origin of manufactured goods is established by the nature of the work carried out in Hong Kong factories in transforming imported raw materials into a wide range of what are essentially consumer goods. The Commerce and Industry Depart- ment is responsible for ensuring that Hong Kong certificates of origin remain fully acceptable to overseas customs authorities and, to this end, the department has established a close system of liaison in certification matters with the four non-government issuing bodies approved for this purpose-the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Indian Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong. During the year, exports of goods certified by the