on technical matters) shall be facilitated by both parties. Article 18 In order to ensure that the Agreement is properly applied, the Community and Macao shall assist each other in checking the authenticity and accuracy of export licences and certificates of origin issued or declarations made under this Protocol. Article 19 Macao shall send the Commission of the European Communities the names and addresses of the governmental authorities competent for the issue and verification of export licences and certificates of origin together with specimens of the stamps used by these authorities. Macao shall also notify the Commission of any change in this information. Article 20 1. Subsequent verification of certificates of origin or export licences shall be carried out at random, or whenever the competent Community authorities have reasonable doubt as to the authenticity of the certificate or licence or as to accuracy of the information regarding the products in question. 2. In such cases the competent authorities in the Community shall return the certificate of origin or export licence or a copy thereof to the competent governmental authority in Macao giving, where appropriate, the reasons of form or substance for an enquiry. If the invoice has been submitted, such invoice or a copy thereof shall be attached to the certificate or licence or its copy. The authorities shall also forward any information that has been obtained suggesting that the particulars given on the said certificate or licence are inaccurate. 3. The results of the subsequent verifications carried out in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be communicated to the competent authorities of the Community within three months at the latest. The information communicated shall indicate whether the disputed certificate or licence applied to the goods actually exported and whether these goods are eligible for export in accordance with the arrangements established by this Agreement. The information shall also include, at the request of the Community, copies of all documentation necessary to determine the facts fully and in particular the true origin of the goods. 4. For the purpose of subsequent verification of certificates of origin, copies of the certificates as well as any export documents referring to them shall be kept for at least two years by the competent governmental authority in Macao. 5. Recourse to the random verification procedure specified in this Article must not constitute an obstacle to the release for home use of the products in question. Article 21 1. Where the verification procedure referred to in Article 20 or where information available to the Community or to Macao indicates or appears to indicate that the provisions of this Agreement are being contravened, both parties shall cooperate closely and with appropriate urgency to prevent such contravention. 2. To this end Macao shall on its own initiative or at the request of the Community, carry out appropriate enquiries or arrange for such enquiries to be carried out concerning operations which are, or appear to the Community to be in contravention of this Agreement. Macao shall communicate the results of these enquiries to the Community together with any other pertinent information enabling the true origin of the goods to be determined. 3. By agreement between the competent Community authorities and the competent Macao authorities, officials designated by the Community may be present at the enquiries referred to above. 4. In pursuance of the cooperation referred to in paragraph 1, Macao and the Community shall exchange any information considered by either party to be of use in preventing the contravention of the provisions of the Agreement. These exchanges may include information on textile production in Macao and on trade in textile products of a kind covered by this Agreement between Macao and other countries, particularly where the Community has reasonable grounds to consider that the products in question may be in transit across the territory of Macao and prior to their importation into the Community. This information shall include at the request of the Community copies of all relevant documentation. 5. Where it is established that the provisions of this Agreement have been contravened, Macao and the Community may agree to take such measures as are necessary to prevent a recurrence of such contravention. Annex to Protocol A, Article 2 (1) >PIC FILE= "T0050026"> Annex to Protocol A, Article 7 (1) >PIC FILE= "T0050027"> PROTOCOL B 1. The exemption provided for in Article 5 of the Agreement in respect of cottage industry products shall apply only to the following products: (a) fabrics woven on hand- or foot-operated looms, being fabrics of a kind traditionally made in the cottage industry of Macao; (b) garments or other textile articles of a kind traditionally made in the cottage industry of Macao obtained manually from the fabrics referred to above and sewn exclusively by hand without the aid of any machine; (c) traditional folklore textile products of Macao made by hand in the cottage industry of Macao as defined in a list to be agreed between both parties. Exemption shall be granted only for products accompanied by a certificate issued
AGREEMENT between the European Economic Community and Macao on trade in textile products Done at Brussels on 19 July 1986 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, of the one part, and THE GOVERNMENT OF MACAO, of the other part, DESIRING to promote, with a view to permanent cooperation and in conditions providing every security for trade, the orderly and equitable development of trade in textile products between the European Economic Community (hereinafter referred to as "the Community") and Macao, RESOLVED to take the fullest possible account of the serious economic and social problems at present affecting the textile industry in both importing and exporting countries, and in particular, to eliminate real risks of market disruption on the market of the Community and real risks of disruption to the textile trade of Macao, HAVING REGARD to the Arrangement regarding International Trade in Textiles (hereinafter referred to as "the Geneva Arrangement"), and in particular Article 4 thereof ; and to the conditions set out in the Protocol extending the Arrangement, HAVE DECIDED to conclude this Agreement and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries: THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES: THE GOVERNMENT OF MACAO: WHO HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS: SECTION I Trade arrangements Article 1 1. The parties recognize and confirm that, subject to the provisions of this Agreement and without prejudice to their rights and obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the conduct of their mutual trade in textile products shall be governed by the provisions of the Geneva Arrangement. 2. In respect of the products covered by this Agreement, the Community undertakes not to introduce quantitative restrictions under Article XIX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or Article 3 of the Geneva Arrangement. 3. Measures having equivalent effect to quantitative restrictions on the importation into the Community of the products covered by this Agreement shall be prohibited. Article 2 1. This Agreement shall apply to trade in textile products of cotton, wool and man-made fibres originating in Macao which are listed in Annex I. 2. The classification of the products covered by this Agreement is based on the Nomenclature of the Common Customs Tariff and on the Nomenclature of Goods for the External Trade Statistics of the Community and the Statistics of Trade between Member States (NIMEXE). From the entry into force of the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) this classification will be based on the harmonized system and on the Community nomenclatures derived from that system. 3. The origin of the products covered by this Agreement shall be determined in accordance with the rules in force in the Community. Any amendment to these rules of origin shall be communicated to Macao and shall not have the effect of reducing any quantitative limit established in Annex II. The procedures for control of the origin of the products referred to above are laid down in Protocol A. Article 3 Macao agrees for each Agreement year to restrain its exports to the Community of the products described in Annex II to the limits set out therein. Exports of textile products set out in Annex II shall be subject to a double-checking system specified in Protocol A. Article 4 Macao and the Community recognize the special and differential character of re-imports of textile products into the Community after processing in Macao. Provided that they are effected in accordance with the regulations on economic outward processing in force in the Community, these re-imports are not subject to the quantitative limits set out in Annex II when they are subject to the specific arrangements laid down in Protocol E. Article 5 Exports of cottage industry fabrics woven on hand- or foot-operated looms, garments or other articles obtained manually from such fabrics and traditional folklore handicraft products shall not be subject to quantitative limits, provided that these products meet the conditions laid down in Protocol B. Article 6 1. Imports into the Community of textile products covered by this Agreement shall not be subject to the quantitative limits established in Annex II, provided that they are declared to be for re-export outside the Community in the same state or after processing, within the framework of the administrative system of control which exists within the Community. However, the release for home use of products imported under the conditions referred to above shall be subject to the production of an export licence issued by the Macao authorities, and to proof of origin in accordance with the provisions of Protocol A. 2. Where the Community authorities have evidence that imports of textile products have been set off against a quantitative limit established under this Agreement, but that the products have subsequently been re-exported outside the Community, the authorities concerned shall inform the Macao authorities within four weeks of by hand without the aid of any machine; (c) traditional folklore textile products of Macao made by hand in the cottage industry of Macao as defined in a list to be agreed between both parties. Exemption shall be granted only for products accompanied by a certificate issued by the competent Macao authorities in accordance with the specimen annexed to this Protocol. Such certificates shall state the ground on which exemption is based and shall be accepted by the competent Community authorities provided that they are satisfied that the products concerned conform to the conditions set out in this Protocol. Certificates covering the products referred to in paragraph (c) above shall bear a conspicuous stamp : "FOLKLORE". In case of divergent opinion between Macao and the competent Community authorities at the point of entry into the Community as to the nature of such products, consultations shall be held within one month with a view to resolving such divergences. Should imports of any of the above products reach such proportions as to cause difficulties to the Community, the two Parties shall open consultations forthwith in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 16 of the Agreement with a view to finding a quantitative solution to the problem. 2. The provisions of Title IV and V of Protocol A shall apply "mutatis mutandis" to the products referred to in paragraph 1 of this Protocol. Annex to Protocol B >PIC FILE= "T0050028"> PROTOCOL C Under Article 8 (6) of the Agreement, a quantitative limit may be fixed on a regional basis where imports of a given product into any region of the Community in relation to the amounts determined in accordance with paragraph 2 of the said Article 8 exceed the following regional percentage: Germany 25,5 % Benelux 9,5 % France 16,5 % Italy 13,5 % Denmark 2,7 % Ireland 0,8 % United Kingdom 21,0 % Greece 1,5 % Spain 7,5 % Portugal 1,5 %. PROTOCOL D The annual growth rate for the quantitative limits introduced under Article 8 of the Agreement shall be determined as follows: for products in categories falling within Groups I, II, III, the growth rate shall be fixed by Agreement between the Parties in accordance with the consultation procedure established in Article 16 of the Agreement. Such growth rate may in no case be lower than the highest rate applied to corresponding products under bilateral agreements concluded under the Geneva Arrangement between the Community and other third countries having a level of trade equal to or comparable with that of Macao. PROTOCOL E Reimports in the sense of Article 4 (2) of this Agreement into the Community of products listed in the Annex to this Protocol shall be subject to the provisions of the Agreement except as specifically provided for by the particular provisions set out below: 1. Only reimports into the Community subject to the specific quantitative limits set out in the Annexto this Protocol, as may be modified by the application of paragraphs 2 and 3, shall be consideredreimports in the sense of Article 4 (2). 2. Reimports not covered by the Annex may be submitted to specific quantitative limits followingconsultations in accordance with the procedures set out in Article 16 of the Agreement, providedthe products concerned are subject to the quantitative limits established under Annex II to theAgreement. 3. The Community may, at its own discretion, and bearing in mind the interest of both parties, or inthe framework of a request set out in Article 16 of the Agreement: (a) examine the possibilities of transfers between categories and advance use or carryover ofportions of specific quantitative limits from one year to another; (b) consider the scope for reallocating portions of any specific quantitative limits not used in oneregion of the Community to another region. 4. However the Community may automatically carry out the flexibilities in the sense of paragraph 3up to the following extent: (a) transfer between categories up to 20 % of the share established for the category to which thetransfer is made; (b) carryover of specific quantitative limits from one year to another up to 10,5 % of the share forthe year of actual utilization; (c) advance use of specific quantitative limits from one year to another up to 7,5 % of the share forthe year of actual utilization. 5. The Community shall inform Macao of any measures taken pursuant to the precedingparagraphs. 6. Debiting against a specific quantitative limit referred to in paragraph 1 shall be carried out by thecompetent authorities of the Community at the time of issuing the prior authorization provided forby the Community Regulation on economic outward processing, Regulation (EEC) No in Annex II is applied the following note must be inserted in box 9 of the export certificate "conversion rate for garments of a commercial size not exceeding 130 cm is to be applied". Article 8 The competent Community authorities must be notified forthwith of the withdrawal or alteration of any export licence already issued. Article 9 1. Exports shall be set off against the quantitative limits established for the year in which shipment of the goods has been effected, even if the export licence is issued after such shipment. 2. For the purpose of applying paragraph 1, shipment of the goods is considered to have taken place on the date of their loading on to the exporting aircraft, vehicle or vessel. Article 10 The presentation of an export licence, in application of Article 12, shall be effected not later than 31 March of the year following that in which the goods covered by the licence have been shipped. Section II Importation Article 11 Importation into the Community of textile products subject to quantitative limits shall be subject to the presentation of an import authorization or document. Article 12 1. The competent Community authorities shall issue such import authorization or document automatically within five working days of the presentation by the importer of the original of the corresponding export licence. The import authorization or document shall be valid for six months. 2. The competent Community authorities shall cancel the already issued import authorization or document if the corresponding export licence has been withdrawn. However, if the competent Community authorities have not been notified of the withdrawal or cancellation of the export licence until after the products have been imported into the Community, the quantities involved shall be set off against the quantitative limit for the category and the quota year in question. Article 13 1. If the competent Community authorities find that the total quantities covered by export licences issued by Macao for a particular category in any Agreement year exceed the quantitative limit established in Annex II for that category, as may be modified by Articles 7, 13 and 14 of the Agreement, or any definitive or provisional limit established under Article 8 of the Agreement, the said authorities may suspend the further issue of import authorizations or documents. In this event, the competent Community authorities shall immediately inform the authorities of Macao and the special consultation procedure set out in Article 16 of the Agreement shall be initiated forthwith. 2. Exports of Macao origin not covered by Macao export licences issued in accordance with the provisions of this Protocol may be refused the issue of import authorizations or documents by the competent Community authorities. However, if the import of such products is allowed into the Community by the competent Community authorities, the quantities involved shall not be set off against the appropriate quantitative limits set out in Annex II or established as a result of the application of Article 8 of the Agreement, without the express agreement of Macao and save as provided for in Article 11 of the Agreement. TITLE IV FORM AND PRODUCTION OF EXPORT LICENCES AND CERTIFICATES OF ORIGIN, AND COMMON PROVISIONS Article 14 1. The export licence and the certificate of origin may comprise additional copies duly indicated as such. They shall be made out in English or French. If they are completed by hand, entries must be ink and in block capitals. These documents shall measure 210 x 297 mm. The paper used must be white writing paper, sized, not containing mechanical pulp and weighing not less than 25 g/m2. Each part shall have a printed guilloche-pattern background making any falsification by mechanical or chemical means apparent to the eye. If the documents have several copies only the top copy which is the original shall be printed with the guilloche-pattern background. This copy shall be clearly marked as "original" and the other copies as "copy". Only the original shall be accepted by the competent authorities in the Community as being valid for the purposes of export to the Community in accordance with the arrangements established by this Agreement. 2. Each document shall bear a standardized serial number, whether or not printed, by which it can be identified. This number shall be composed of the following elements: - two letters identifying Macao as follows : MO, - two letter identifying countries of destination as follows: BL : Benelux DE : Federal Republic of Germany DK : Denmark ES : Spain FR : France GB : United Kingdom GR : Greece IE : Ireland IT : ItalyPT : Portugal, - a one-digit number identifying quota year, corresponding to the last figure in year, e.g. 7 for 1987, - a two-digit number running consecutively from 01 to 99 identifying the issuing office, - a five-digit number running consecutively from 00001 to 99999 allocated to the country of destination. Article 15 The export licence and certificate of origin may be issued after the shipment of is disturbing existing commercial relations between importers in the Community and suppliers in Macao consultations shall be started promptly, in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 16 with a view to remedying this situation. Article 16 1. The special consultation procedures referred to in this Agreement shall be governed by the following rules: - any request for consultations shall be notified in writing to the other party, - the request for consultations shall be followed within a reasonable period (and in any case not later than fifteen days following the notification) by a statement setting out the reasons and circumstances which, in the opinion of the requesting Party, justify the submission of such a request, - the Parties shall enter into consultations within one month at the latest of notification of the request, with a view to reaching agreement or a mutually acceptable conclusion within one further month at the latest. 2. The Community may request consultations in accordance with paragraph 1 when it ascertains that during a particular year of application of the Agreement difficulties arise in the Community or one of its regions from a sharp and substantial increase, by comparison to the preceding year, in imports of a given category of Group I subject to the quantitative limits set out in Annex II. 3. If necessary, at the request of either of the Parties and in conformity with the provisions of the Geneva Arrangement, consultations shall be held on any problems arising from the application of this Agreement. Any consultations held under this Article shall be approached by both Parties in a spirit of cooperation and with a desire to reconcile the difference between them. Article 17 This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories within which the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community is applied and under the conditions laid down in that Treaty and, on the other hand, to the territory of Macao. SECTION II Transitional and final provisions Article 18 1. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the date of its signature. It shall be applicable until 31 December 1990. 2. This Agreement shall apply with effect from 1 January 1987. 3. Either Party may at any time propose modifications to the Agreement. 4. Either Party may at any time denounce this Agreement provided that at least 90 days' notice is given. In that event, the Agreement shall come to an end on the expiry of the period of notice. 5. The Annexes, Protocols, Agreed Minutes, Joint Declarations and the Memorandum of Understanding to this Agreement shall form an integral part thereof. Article 19 This Agreement shall be drawn up in two copies in the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese ans Spanish languages, each of these texts being equally authentic. ANNEX I LIST OF PRODUCTS 1. When the constitutive material of the products of categories 1 to 114 is not specifically mentioned these products are to be taken to be made exclusively of wool or of fine animal hair, of cotton or of man-made fibres. 2. Garments which are not recognizable as being garments for men or boys or as garments for women or girls are classified with the latter. 3. Where the expression "babies" garments' is used, this is meant also to cover girls' garments up to and including commercial size 86. GROUP I A >PIC FILE= "T0050007"> >PIC FILE= "T0050008"> GROUP I B >PIC FILE= "T0050009"> GROUP II A >PIC FILE= "T0050010"> GROUP II B >PIC FILE= "T0050011"> >PIC FILE= "T0050012"> >PIC FILE= "T0050013"> >PIC FILE= "T0050014"> GROUP III A >PIC FILE= "T0050015"> >PIC FILE= "T0050016"> >PIC FILE= "T0050017"> >PIC FILE= "T0050018"> GROUP III B >PIC FILE= "T0050019"> >PIC FILE= "T0050020"> >PIC FILE= "T0050021"> >PIC FILE= "T0050022"> ANNEX II For practical reasons the product descriptions used in Annex I are given in the present Annex in abbreviated form COMMUNITY LIMITS >PIC FILE= "T0050023"> >PIC FILE= "T0050024">