TRADE AND INDUSTRY
and out of Hong Kong. Secondly, they are imposed on grounds of health, safety, environmental protection, anti-smuggling or unrestricted access to high technology products. Items covered include strategic commodities, reserved commodities, pharmaceutical products and medicines, pesticides, radioactive substances and irradiating apparatus, left-hand-drive vehicles and ozone-depleting substances.
The HKSAR maintains a certification of origin system that, apart from certifying the origin of Hong Kong exports, also supports claims for preferential tariff treatment from donor countries. The Trade Department administers this system and issues certificates of origin. Five other organisations have been designated by the government to issue certificates of origin. They are the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong, the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong, and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce.
Electronic Data Interchange
Hong Kong's use of electronic data interchange has continued to expand. Electronic data interchange, the computer-to-computer exchange of business information in standard formats, is one of the techniques being implemented world-wide in an attempt to curb the amount of paperwork involved in business and to improve efficiency.
During the year, the Community Electronic Trading Service (CETS) became available fully to the business community for applications of textile export licences and lodgements of trade declarations. The CETS is a joint venture involving the government and 10 leading trade-related organisations in Hong Kong. The number of companies using the CETS will increase quickly because it will become the only means of applying for textiles export licences by January 1999 and lodging trade declarations by April 2000.
In the interests of compatibility, the government agreed that the United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport, a standard developed by the UN for electronic trading, will be adopted for government transactions wherever applicable. The government is pleased to note that the private sector services also incorporate this standard.
The Industry Department
The Industry Department's mission is to facilitate the development of manufacturing and manufacturing-related service industries within the framework of a free market. It works closely with its partners in government, business, tertiary education institutions and industrial support organisations to provide the necessary physical, technological and human infrastructure, promote quality and productivity improvement, encourage applied research and development, monitor developments in markets and technologies, attract inward investment in Hong Kong industries, and support the development of small and medium enterprises.
Land
The government put up 14 467 square metres of industrial land for sale by tender in 1997. Private developers provided an additional 197 809 square metres of flatted factory space in 1996. Construction of the second phase of the Tseung Kwan O
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