ENG-2010 — Page 145

Commerce and Industry 103

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Hong Kong is also an observer on the Trade Committee and the Committee on Financial Markets of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), important discussion forums for policy matters in respect of trade and financial services.

Regional and Bilateral Trade Agreements

The Government is committed to the primacy of the multilateral trading system under the WTO. That notwithstanding, in response to new trends in world trade the Government has been seeking to enter into more economic and trade arrangements with trading partners so long as they are in Hong Kong's interests, consistent with WTO provisions, contributive to multilateral trade liberalisation, and can allow more favourable access to overseas markets for Hong Kong goods and services. In March 2010, Hong Kong signed a Closer Economic Partnership Agreement with New Zealand. This is Hong Kong's first free trade agreement with a foreign economy. Hong Kong also commenced negotiations with the European Free Trade Association, consisting of the Governments of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, on a Free Trade Agreement in 2010. The Government will continue to pursue trade agreements with other trading partners in Hong Kong's interests.

Liaison with the Mainland and the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)

The Mainland's rapid economic and trade growth has helped boost Hong Kong's external trade and intermediary services, and has facilitated economic and trade co-operation and integration between the two places. The Mainland and Hong Kong signed CEPA in June 2003 to promote the liberalisation of trade in goods and services, and to facilitate trade and investment between them. The two sides concluded a number of supplements to broaden the coverage of CEPA and to deepen the liberalisation measures in different service areas. The latest of these, Supplement VII, was signed in May 2010.

Since January 1, 2006, the Mainland has applied zero tariff to all imported goods of Hong Kong origin that meet the agreed CEPA rules of origin (ROOs). As at end 2010, the CEPA ROOS for a cumulative total of some 1 620 products had been agreed. For trade in services, some 280 liberalisation and facilitation measures have been announced, covering a total of 44 service areas3. Under these measures, Hong Kong service suppliers enjoy preferential treatment in entering the Mainland's service

3

These service areas are: accounting, advertising, air transport, audiovisual, banking, building- cleaning, computer and related services, construction and related engineering, convention and exhibition, cultural, distribution, environmental, examinations for professional and technical qualification, freight forwarding agency, individually owned stores, insurance, legal, logistics, management consulting, maritime transport, market research, medical, patent agency, photographic, placement and supply services of personnel, printing, public utility, rail transport, real estate, related scientific and technical consulting services, research and development, road transport, securities and futures, services incidental to mining, services related to management consulting, social services, specialty design, sporting, storage and warehousing, technical testing, analysis and product testing, telecommunications, tourism, trade mark agency, translation and interpretation.