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CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
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Hong Kong's foreign relations are constitutionally the direct responsibility of the British Government. Thus the British Government is internationally responsible for ensuring that the Hong Kong Government fulfils its obligations under the many international conven- tions and agreements which extend to Hong Kong as well as to the United Kingdom. But in the day-to-day conduct of external affairs, Hong Kong in practice enjoys a considerable degree of autonomy, particularly regarding trade matters. It is a contracting party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in its own right.
The Political Adviser is a senior member of the British Diplomatic Service, seconded to the Hong Kong Government principally to advise the Governor and the Chief Secretary on matters concerning Hong Kong's relations with China. His office is part of the Hong Kong Government. Following extensive involvement in the Sino-British negotiations which culminated in the Joint Declaration, the Political Adviser's office, in conjunction with the General Duties Branch, is closely involved in the work of implementing the Joint Declaration. In addition, the Political Adviser's office continues to offer advice, and, in some cases, to co-ordinate action on a great many more routine matters, notably in promoting the wide range of contacts between Hong Kong Government departments and their counterparts in Guangdong Province, particularly in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. Close and effective cross-border co-operation has developed in such diverse areas as opening new border crossing points and transport links, and in coping with environmental pollution and flooding problems, as well as on questions concerning immigration, customs, postal services and telecommunications. The Political Adviser's office is also one of the channels of communication between the Hong Kong Government and foreign and Commonwealth missions in Hong Kong. These missions do, however, deal directly with the relevant departments of the Hong Kong Government over most day-to-day matters.
External Commercial Relations
Hong Kong possesses full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the basic aim of which is to liberalise world trade and protect the most-favoured-nation principle, is the cornerstone of Hong Kong's external trade relations. The Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA), which aims at the orderly development and expansion of international trade in textiles, provides the framework within which Hong Kong negotiates bilateral restraint agreements with textiles importing countries.
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On April 23, 1986 Hong Kong became the 91st contracting party to the GATT. Hitherto, Hong Kong had already been participating in GATT activities from within the United Kingdom delegation. The United Kingdom spokesman for Hong Kong was invariably a Hong Kong Government official. The arrangement had enabled Hong Kong to take positions that were different from those of the EEC, and, by implication, the United Kingdom. With effect from April 23, 1986, the Head of the Hong Kong Government Office in Geneva has been appointed as the permanent representative of Hong Kong to the GATT.
In the United Kingdom declaration concerning Hong Kong's separate GATT contract- ing party status, the British Government formally informed the Director-General of the GATT that Hong Kong possesses full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations and of the other matters provided for in the GATT. At the same time as the British Government made this declaration, the Chinese Government also made a parallel declaration that, with effect from July 1, 1997, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will meet the requirements for a separate customs territory to be deemed to be a