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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1986-
AS UNAUTHORISED PHOTOCOPYING OF ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS AND REFERENCE BOOKS WAS INCREASING, IN 1984 AND 1985, CUSTOMS OFFICERS CARRIED OUT AN OPERATION IN WHICH A LARGE NUMBER OF BOOKSHOPS AND PHOTOCOPYING SHOPS WERE RAIDED.
+AS A RESULT, THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN GREATLY REDUCED.+
+THE DEPARTMENT MAINTAINS A CONSTANT SURVEY ON THE MARKET SITUATION. MORE RECENTLY AN OPERATION AGAINST UNAUTHORISED +IN STORE+ TAPING OF SOUND RECORDINGS TOOK PLACE. TWENTY-SEVEN TRADING PREMISES WERE RAIDED, RESULTING IN THE SEIZURE OF 61 INFRINGING AUDIO TAPES, 23 AMPLIFIERS AND 33 CASSETTE RECORDERS VALUED AT $200 000, + HE SAID.
POINTING OUT THAT INTERNATIONAL TRADE WAS THE MAINSTAY OF HONG KONG'S ECONOMY, MR HOWARD SAID, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF ITS TRADING SYSTEM, HONG KONG HAS TO TAKE PARTICULAR CARE TO PROTECT ITS INTERNATIONAL TRADING IMAGE,
+AND HONG KONG'S EFFORTS TO FIGHT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY VIOLATORS ARE WELL RECOGNISED INTERNATIONALLY.+
NOVEMBER EXTERNAL TRADE MOVEMENTS
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COMPARING THE FIRST ELEVEN MONTHS OF 1985 WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS DECLINED BY 7 PER CENT WHILE THAT OF RE-EXPORTS GREW BY 27 PER CENT, GIVING AN INCREASE OF 5 PER CENT IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS, ACCORDING TO FIGURES RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
IMPORTS INCREASED BY 6 PER CENT IN VOLUME TERMS. OVER THE SAME PERIOD, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS REMAINED UNCHANGED AND THOSE OF RE-EXPORTS ROSE BY 1 PER CENT. PRICES OF IMPORTS DROPPED BY 3 PER CENT.
PRICES ARE BASED ON UNIT VALUES WHICH DO NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OR QUALITY OF GOODS TRADED, EXCEPT FOR SOME SELECTED COMMODITIES FOR WHICH SPECIFICATION PRICE INDEXES ARE COMPILED. VOLUMES OF TRADE ARE DERIVED FROM TRADE VALUES BY DISCOUNTING THE EFFECT OF PRICE CHANGES.
THE VOLUME OF COMPARING NOVEMBER 1985 WITH NOVEMBER 1984, TOTAL EXPORTS INCREASED BY 5 PER CENT. WITHIN TOTAL EXPORTS, THE VOLUME OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 10 PER CENT WHILE THAT OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ROSE BY 2 PER CENT. THE LATTER INCREASE WAS THE FIRST IN EIGHT MONTHS, SUGGESTING THAT THE DECLINE IN DOMESTIC EXPORTS MIGHT HAVE BOTTOMED OUT. IMPORTS INCREASED BY 4 PER CENT IN VOLUME TERMS. PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS DROPPED BY 4 PER CENT AND 1 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY, SO THAT FOR TOTAL EXPORTS, PRICES DECREASED BY 3 PER CENT. PRICES OF IMPORTS DECREASED BY 1 PER CENT. AS A RESULT, THE TERMS OF TRADE INDEX (EXPRESSED AS A RATIO OF THE TOTAL EXPORT PRICE INDEX TO THE IMPORT PRICE INDEX) DROPPED BY 1 PER CENT.
EXTENDING THE