XN000022-1997-02-21 — Page 3

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The change in the US origin rules for textiles and clothing products which took effect on July 1, 1996; and

Notification of administrative arrangements for submission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as required by the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC).

"On the question of import data for quota accounting purposes, we will focus on making practical arrangements to minimise discrepancies between the data of the two sides," Mrs Lai said.

"We have given the US a number of cases where their data is different from ours, and in some of these cases the US have found their data is wrong and have corrected their records.

"We are pleased with the efforts of the US side in this regard, but the two sides still need to continue to work on a number of cases.

"Such work is important in order to make sure that any differences in the data of the two sides do not lead to inconveniences for the trade," Mrs Lai noted.

So far, there have been no cases where discrepancies between the data of the two sides have led to undue US embargo on Hong Kong's imports.

"We will also brief the US side on the latest development of our Electronic Data Interchange service for restrained textiles export licence," Mrs Lai said.

"Another issue we will discuss is the US origin rules introduced on July 1, 1996 for a range of textiles and clothing products as the new rules could have impact on Hong Kong's trade.

"We will also try to finalise a notification of administrative arrangements with the US for the implementation of the ATC for submission to the WTO," Mrs Lai added.

End