XN000022-1990-05-26 — Page 5

SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1990

BETTER ACCESS TO NORWAY FOR TEXTILE PRODUCTS

WILL

HONG KONG AND NORWAY HAVE REACHED A NEW AGREEMENT WHICH GIVE CERTAIN HONG KONG TEXTILE PRODUCTS BETTER ACCESS TO THE NORWEGIAN MARKET.

FORCE THE NEW AGREEMENT, WHICH WILL COME INTO

ON JULY 1 ON EXPIRY OF THE CURRENT AGREEMENT AND LAST TWO YEARS, REDUCES THE NUMBER OF CATEGORIES UNDER QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTION FROM THE EXISTING EIGHT TO SEVEN.

IT ALSO PROVIDES FOR THE DERESTRAINT OF TWO OTHER CATEGORIES AS FROM THE SECOND YEAR. CHILDREN'S WEAR, CURRENTLY UNDER QUOTA RESTRICTIONS, WILL ALSO BE PARTIALLY DERESTRAINED.

THE EXISTING CATEGORY 8 (WOVEN BLOUSES AND SHIRTS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS) WILL BE DERESTRAINED WHEN THE AGREEMENT TAKES EFFECT.

CATEGORY

THIS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY THE DERESTRAINT, AS FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND YEAR (JULY 1, 1991), OF

3 (KNITTED OR CROCHETED SHIRTS, T-SHIRTS AND BLOUSES FOR MEN, BOYS, WOMEN, GIRLS

AND AND INFANTS);

CATEGORY 6 (KNITTED OR CROCHETED PULLOVERS, SWEATERS, JUMPERS, CARDIGANS AND JACKETS, NOT ELASTIC NOR RUBBERISED, FOR MEN, BOYS, WOMEN, GIRLS AND INFANTS).

WILL BE

IN ADDITION, CHILDREN'S WEAR IN ALL CATEGORIES PARTIALLY AND GRADUALLY DERESTRAINED. FROM THE TIME THE NEW AGREEMENT IS IMPLEMENTED, GARMENTS ABOVE 140 CENTIMETRES IN SIZE WILL BE FREE FROM QUOTA RESTRICTIONS AND THERE WILL BE FURTHER LIBERALISATION UP TO AND INCLUDING 152 CENTIMETRES AS FROM JULY 1, 1991.

THE NEW HONG KONG/NORWAY AGREEMENT ALSO PROVIDES FOR IMPROVED GROWTH RATES AND FLEXIBILITY FOR ALL CATEGORIES.

"THIS NEW BILATERAL AGREEMENT REPRESENTS A SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT OVER THE CURRENT ONE AND SHOULD AFFORD BETTER MARKET ACCESS FOR A NUMBER OF TEXTILE EXPORTS FROM HONG KONG CURRENTLY SUBJECT TO RESTRAINT," A SPOKESMAN FOR THE TRADE DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY (SATURDAY).

"THE SPIRIT OF GRADUAL AND PROGRESSIVE LIBERALISATION EMBODIED IN THE AGREEMENT IS ENCOURAGING AND IS TO BE WELCOMED, HE SAID.

TT

CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN HONG KONG AND NORWAY ON THE NEW AGREEMENT BEGAN IN LATE MARCH IN HONG KONG AND WERE CONCLUDED IN A FURTHER ROUND OF TALKS HELD IN OSLO THIS WEEK (MAY 21-23).

THE HONG KONG DELEGATION WAS LED BY THE

DEPUTY

DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF TRADE, MR STUART HARBINSON. MR JOHN IVERSEN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR-GENERAL AT THE ROYAL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, LED FOR NORWAY.

HONG KONG EXPORTED $570 MILLION WORTH OF TEXTILE PRODUCTS ΤΟ NORWAY LAST YEAR.

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