XN000022-1996-04-18 — Page 22

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The additional agencies to come under the Code in April are the Auxiliary Medical Services (department), Civil Aid Services (department), Immigration Department, Official Languages Agency, Civil Service Training and Development Institute, Secretariat of the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service, and Secretariat of the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service.

Under the Code, anyone can seek access to information and records held by government departments. A department must provide access to the requested information unless there are specific grounds for refusal.

Anyone who thinks that a department has not complied with the Code may ask for a review, or complain to the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints.

The Code has been operating smoothly since its introduction in March 1995. A total of 855 requests for access to information were received by departments. Of these, only 27 have been rejected and 19 partially declined.

The spokesman added that the full text of the Code had been published on the Internet, together with its internal guidelines on application and interpretation and the contact details of departmental Access to Information Officers. Such information could be accessed at the World-Wide Web Government Information Centre on http://www.info.gov.hk/access/index.htm.

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Textiles consultations with Turkey fail to proceed

The consultations originally scheduled to be held between Hong Kong and Turkey on April 16 and 17 in Geneva over the unilateral imposition of discriminatory quotas by Turkey on textiles and clothing imports from Hong Kong could not proceed as Turkey failed to respond to Hong Kong's request for consultations on the terms agreed between the two sides.

The Deputy Director-General of Trade, Mrs Rebecca Lai, who led the Hong Kong delegation to the consultations, said today (Thursday): "Hong Kong regrets that although the consultations proposed by Hong Kong had been accepted by Turkey on February 20, Turkey stated just prior to the commencement of the first session of the consultations on April 16 that it could not proceed on the basis as requested by Hong Kong and previously agreed by Turkey in accordance with the proper procedures under the multilateral framework."