COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
assess the benefits of the associated cost reductions. In addition, with a view to advancing trade facilitation, Hong Kong has developed two templates respectively for CTI sub-fora to highlight their progress in implementing the principles and for member economies to highlight their trade facilitation achievements.
PECC, founded in 1980, is a non-governmental regional forum comprising government officials, business leaders and academics who work in their personal capacity on practical policy issues to enhance trade, investment and economic development in the Pacific region. Hong Kong joined this forum in May 1991. The Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, established in March 1990 to advise on and coordinate Hong Kong's participation in and input to the PECC process, continues to play an active role in PECC's various fora, task forces and project groups.
Observer Role in the OECD
The HKSAR is an observer on the Trade Committee and the Committee on Financial Markets of the Paris-based OECD, which are important fora for discussions on policy matters in respect of trade and financial services. Ideas introduced in these committees are often followed up in other international organisations such as the WTO and eventually translated into binding multilateral agreements or codes.
Trade in Textiles
Hong Kong's textiles exports to the European Union, Canada and the United States are subject to certain quantitative restrictions. In accordance with the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC), these quantitative restrictions are being phased out over 10 years, in four stages from January of 1995, 1998, 2002 and 2005, respectively. All quantitative restrictions will have been eliminated from January 1, 2005. Hong Kong has been closely monitoring the implementation of the ATC and the operation of the Textiles Monitoring Body, the ATC's supervisory body. Through cooperation with the International Textiles and Clothing Bureau (of which Hong Kong, China was the Chairman from January 1999 until September 2002), Hong Kong and a group of developing country exporters of textiles have been working together to ensure that the liberalisation process under the ATC is on course and to explore possibilities for further liberalisation.
Hong Kong continues to cooperate with its trading partners in combating illegal transhipment of textiles. Among other things, to promote understanding of Hong Kong's anti-transhipment efforts, Hong Kong Customs officers conduct joint factory observation visits in conjunction with US Customs representatives. Such visits are not acts of law enforcement. In 2002, two rounds of joint factory observation visits were conducted.
To combat false declarations of origin and values of goods and illegal transhipment of textiles, the Customs and Excise Department in 2002 carried out 77 949 factory and consignment inspections and 1 725 investigations. It successfully prosecuted 1 185 offenders, resulting in the imposition of fines amounting to $14.32 million. The department also strengthened its intelligence collation concerning illegal transhipment of textiles and stepped up 'blitz' check operations on textile consignments at various import and export control points. It operates a monetary reward scheme to elicit information on textiles origin fraud.
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