CODE 18-77
Mr Ricketts
Mr Whitney
425/2
Reference..
Show Awaddle
Par letter
REC
Y
10 FEB 1993
TO
HONG KONG: TEXTILE TRANSHIPMENT
1.
Mr Ricketts asked if we knew anything about the problem of textile transhipment mentioned in Mr Pattison's teleletter of 2 February (attached). This is not the first time Mr Pattison has told us that Barbara Franklin pressed the Governor on textile transhipment and that the Governor promised additional enforcement efforts. He mentioned it in his letter of 14 January to Terry Furness (copy attached) in which he reported on a talk given by Barbara Franklin to the Washington International Trade Association on her recent trip to China and Hong Kong. However, there is no reference to the subject in Hong Kong's telno 2952 (copy attached) reporting on the Franklin visit.
2. I spoke to Grant Mosedale (DTI/ITP) who is the expert on the Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA). Under the MFA both Hong Kong and China have quotas with the US, EC countries etc for textiles and clothing. Under the GATT origin rules goods must bear the origin of the country of final manufacture or assembly. There have been a number of allegations, mainly from textile trade associations, that Hong Kong companies manufacturing clothing in China are fraudulently certifying that their goods were manufactured in Hong Kong in order to take advantage of the Hong Kong quota when the China quota is used up.
According to Mr Mosedale, the Hong Kong Customs Authorities are aware of the problem and are trying to crack down on it. He offered to see if he could find some cases for
me.
Ünnadele Bouch
Annadele Bouch Hong Kong Department WH 303 270 2653
4 February 1993
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