XN000022-1997-04-16 — Page 27

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Import and Export (Registration) (Amendment) Regulation 1997

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Trade and Industry, Miss Denise Yue, in moving the motion 'that the Import and Export (Registration) (Amendment) Regulation 1997, made by the Governor in Council on 18 March 1997, be approved' in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President,

I move the second motion which has been printed on the Order Paper namely 'that the Import and Export (Registration) (Amendment) Regulation 1997, made by theGovernor in Council on 18 March 1997, be approved'.

The purpose of this motion is to revise the declaration charges payable to the Government upon lodgements of trade declarations.

It is now possible for traders to lodge trade declarations using the Community Electronic Trading Service provided by Tradelink and our aim is to make this the only method of lodging trade declarations in three years' time. In addition to paying Tradelink for using its service, levies in the form of declaration charges are also payable to the Government. If such declaration charges remain unchanged, the use of the Community Electronic Trading Service will not be attractive for the business community because it will result in a higher overall charge. Apart from the phased withdrawal of the existing facilities for collecting trade declarations, we need a financial package to encourage the business community to stop using paper forms and switch over to a paperless method of conducting business.

Under the Import and Export (Registration) (Amendment) Regulation 1997, the existing set of charges will be replaced by two. Declaration charges for paperless lodgements will enjoy lower rates of charges. As far as possible, the combined Government and Tradelink charges will be less or no more than the current charge. Declaration charges for paper lodgements will be increased. This is necessary as a disincentive for the continuation of paper lodgements. Without such a disincentive, the financial package will not be effective.

Mr President, I beg to move.

End