ENG-1963 — Page 128

INDUSTRY AND TRADE

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in this field. To avoid duplication of effort a Commercial Public Relations Co-ordinating Committee was appointed at the same time, under the chairmanship of the Director of Commerce and Industry, with a membership comprising the Chairmen of the two associations principally concerned, the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourist Association and the Director of Information Services. This committee met monthly during the year.

Statistics. The Commerce and Industry Department publishes monthly commodity by country statistics of the quantity and value of all goods imported, exported and re-exported. These are classified in accordance with the Hong Kong imports and exports classification list, which is based on the United Nations standard international trade classification. Country by commodity statistics are also tabulated and are available in the department, but are not published. In the absence of customs machinery, the trade statistics are compiled on punched cards from declarations which importers and exporters are required by law to file with the department.

A household expenditure survey was begun in September after considerable preparatory work in the first part of the year. The survey covers a sample of 3,000 households spread over the Colony and will last for one year; for a period of one month each house- hold has agreed to maintain, with the assistance of interviewing officers, a detailed record of expenditure. The results of the survey will provide a weighting pattern for a new Consumer Price Index. Information obtained during the survey will also be of value to the national income survey which is being undertaken by an expert on a Government fellowship at the University of Hong Kong, and for which the extraction and analysis of data from Government records has progressed during the year.

Trade Controls. Import and export licensing formalities are kept to a minimum and there were no significant changes in the few existing regulations during the year. Licences are required only for materials of a strategic nature and for a few items in respect of which it is necessary to retain control for health, foreign exchange and other such reasons. The Commerce and Industry Department processes applications for licences within a few hours.

The department is also responsible for the legal and administra- tive arrangements required to implement the undertaking to limit exports of cotton textiles to Britain, Canada, the United States, and