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"We understand that the continuation of the rapid restructuring of Hong Kong's economy has resulted in the displacement of workers. The recent moderation in the servicing sector has resulted in a reduced uptake of displaced workers and hence the rise in unemployment rate.

"According to our survey, the duration of unemployment is not long for the majority of the unemployed. Also, the economic forecast is good and we are optimistic that the employment situation will remain healthy," the spokesman said.

End/Thursday, May 18, 1995

HK official made chairman of WTO dispute settlement panel

Former Hong Kong representative to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), Mr Joseph W P Wong, has been appointed chairman of a dispute settlement panel to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Mr Wong, now Director of Home Affairs, has been appointed to chair a three- member panel established on April 10, 1995 by the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO to hear a complaint brought by Venezuela against the United States over differential standards set for reformulated gasoline.

This is the first dispute settlement panel established under the WTO after its entry into force on January 1 this year.

The US Gasoline Rule is said to provide a higher pollutant tolerance level for domestically reformulated gasoline than Venezuelan products, which it is alleged violates GATT principles of fair trade and certain provisions of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

A Trade Department spokesman said today (Thursday) WTO was a successor body to the GATT and provided a dispute settlement mechanism for members if they felt that their rights under the multilateral trading agreement had been impaired or nullified.

"The dispute settlement mechanism is the cornerstone of the multilateral trading system. The process under the WTO is automatic and provides a strict time frame for the conduct of panel proceedings and decisions," he said.