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INDUSTRY AND TRADE
1979, a GATT Panel was established to investigate Norway's action. In its report submitted to the GATT Council in March, 1980, the panel concluded, among other things, that Norway had failed to make its action consistent with Article XIII of the GATT by not allo- cating to Hong Kong an appropriate share of the so-called global quotas, such a measure constituting, prima facie, a case of nullification or impairment of Hong Kong's rights under the GATT. The report was adopted in principle by the GATT Council in June, 1980, and, at the latter's instigation, a meeting between representatives of Hong Kong and Norway was arranged in Geneva in July, 1980, through the offices of the Director-General of the GATT. This was subsequently followed by consultations between the two governments with a view to reaching a mutually satisfactory solution. These consultations failed to resolve the issue because the Norwegian Government decided, in the final round, to terminate them and, instead of seeking a bilateral solution, to continue its unilateral import action. The Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (MTN), which was launched in 1973 with the object of further liberalising world trade by removing or reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, was concluded in 1979. Over 30 countries agreed to reduce their tariffs by about one-third over a period of seven years commencing in 1980. These reductions are made on a most-favoured-nation basis and automatically apply to Hong Kong. The MTN also resulted in a number of agreements on various non-tariff measures, and on improving some provisions of the GATT. Hong Kong accepted six of the agreements concluded in the MTN. These are: the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT (Revised Anti-dumping Code); Agreement on Interpretation and Application of Articles VI, XVI and XXIII of the GATT (Code on Subsidies and Countervailing Duties); Agreement on Technical Barrier to Trade (Standards Code); Agreement on Import Licensing Proce- dures; Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the GATT (Customs Valuation Code) and the Agreement on Government Procurement. The first four of these came into force on January 1, 1980, and the last two will become effective on January 1, 1981.
The MFA is due to expire at the end of 1981 and a major review of its operation was conducted in October, 1980. Parties to the arrangement also considered whether the MFA should be extended, modified or discontinued. No decision emerged and consideration of the future of the MFA will continue in 1981. Hong Kong participated fully in these discussions.
Generalised preference schemes are operated by most developed countries to promote the export of goods manufactured by developing countries. The schemes include provisions allowing duty-free or low tariff entry for products from beneficiary developing countries. However, the form, coverage and other provisions differ from country to country. Hong Kong has been included as a beneficiary by all developed countries operating such schemes (except for Finland and Norway), and some products from Hong Kong are excluded from the schemes operated by the EEC, Japan, Switzerland, Australia and Austria. Such differences in treatment is the subject of continuing official exchanges. Hong Kong has consistently made it clear to the countries concerned that it seeks no special advantages under these schemes; it only wants treatment similar to that accorded to close competitors.
Documentation of Imports and Exports
Import and export licensing formalities are kept to a minimum in line with Hong Kong's international obligations. The most complex licensing formalities are those resulting from Hong Kong's obligations to restrain certain exports of textile products. Apart from export licences covering textiles - for which a fee of $15 an application is charged - all other import and export licences are issued free.