ENG-1966 — Page 95

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INDUSTRY AND TRADE

ADMINISTRATION

On 30th September the Trade Development Council was made responsible by ordinance for Hong Kong's trade promotion. The council took over the Trade Development Office, which had been administratively established on 1st April. The Commerce and In- dustry Department is now concerned with all other matters affecting trade and industry except labour and banking, its three divisions covering industry and certification, textiles and controls, and its two branches dealing with overseas trade relations and statistics.

The Industry Division provides a liaison between industry and other government departments, answers industrial enquiries from overseas and deals with specific industrial problems as they arise. It also operates certificate of origin and Commonwealth preference procedures. During the year a new industry inspection service was trained and established and took over responsibility for enforcing such procedures through the regular inspection of factories and goods and the prosecution of persons suspected of contravening the relevant regulations. The Textiles Division is concerned with the calculation and allocation of quotas for markets restricted because of the operation of the Long-Term Cotton Textile Arrangement, and for their control through export licensing. It is also responsible for preparations for any negotiations with trading partners con- cerning textiles and for enforcing the provisions of any agreement. The division acts as a secretariat for the Cotton Advisory Board.

The Controls Division deals with trade licensing, other than for textiles, with dutiable commodities and with the control of rice stocks. It administers the Preventive Service, a uniformed and dis- ciplined service whose role in revenue protection and the control of narcotics traffic is described in Chapter 10. The Chief Preventive Officer commands the service which has an establishment of eight gazetted officers, 280 inspectors and 531 rank and file. The Overseas Trade Relations Branch keeps a watch on commercial measures adopted by other countries which may affect Hong Kong's trade. It studies the activities of international institutions concerned with trade and collects, analyses and presents information on these matters for the benefit of the Trade Development Council, local merchants and manufacturers. The branch acts as the secretariat for the Trade and Industry Advisory Board. The Statistical Branch