XN000022-1996-08-29 — Page 5

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US announcement on textiles disappointing

Responding to US Customs' announcement that four categories of Hong Kong garments will be put on a "watch list" from September 1 for alleged illegal transhipment concerns, a government spokesman said today (Thursday) that the Administration was disappointed with the move.

"We have a 30-day programme starting on September 2 for joint visits to Hong Kong factories by Hong Kong and US Customs officers in respect of the 10 categories of Hong Kong garments on which the US Customs have imposed additional import

measures.

"We hope that at the end of the programme, the US Customs will conclude that there is no need for any additional import measures on the ten categories and the four categories that will be put on a 'watch list'," the spokesman said.

According to the US announcement published today (August 29, Washington time), the US Customs will put four categories of Hong Kong garments on a "watch list" with effect from September 1, and monitor them for 30 days to determine whether illegal transhipment might be occurring.

The four categories are 331 (cotton gloves), 338/339 (cotton knit shirts), 348 (women's cotton pants), and 350 (cotton dressing gown).

The announcement also stated that if at the end of the 30-day monitoring period the US Customs decided that probability of illegal transhipment exists, they would impose additional import requirements on imports of the four categories from Hong Kong.

Such measures are the requirements for a single entry bond, for original signatures by factories/subcontractors on textile declarations filed by the importers, and for the importer to certify that the textile declarations are accurate.

"The US Customs have told us informally that they had concerns with possible illegal transhipment involving those four categories, and that they were thinking about doing something, including putting them on a 'watch list"," the spokesman said.

"We have invited them to share with us their data leading to their concerns, so that the two sides could corroborate their respective information on these categories.