to complete the examination of the evidence adduced the parties may agree to extend that period.Declaration concerning Article 2 (3) of the AgreementThe Community declares that, if any amendment is made to the rules of origin referred to in Article 2 (3) of the Agreement, the Community shall, with the agreement of Hong Kong, take appropriatemeasures to avoid any possible consequent reduction of Hong Kong's ability to use the quantitative limits established in Annex II of the present Agreement.The Community further declares that any amendment made to the abovementioned rules shall continue to be based on criteria not requiring, in order to confer originating status, more extensive operations than those constituting a single complete process.Agreed MinuteWith reference to Article 12 (3) of the Agreement on trade in textiles between the European Economic Community and Hong Kong initialled on 2 October 1986, it is understood that the percentage for the fifth year of the application of the Agreement will be at least equal to the percentage applicable in the fourth year.Head of Delegation of Hong KongHead of Delegation of theEuropean Economic CommunityAgreed MinuteThe Community and Hong Kong agree that:- carryover to the quantitative limits for the year 1987 of quantities not used in 1986 is authorized up to 2 % on the corresponding quantitative limits for 1987 for Group I and up to 3 % for other Groups,- advance use of a portion of quantitative limits for 1987 is authorized for any quantitative limit for the year 1986 up to 2 % for Group I and up to 3 % for other Groups, subject to an agreement of the two Parties establishing the de facto-application of the new bilateral agreement.Head of Delegation of Hong KongHead of Delegation of theEuropean Economic CommunityExchange of notesThe Minister for Hong Kong Commercial Relations with the European Communities and the Member States presents his compliments to the Directorate-General for External Relations of the Commission of the European Communities and has the honour to refer to the Agreement in textile products negotiated between Hong Kong and the Community and initialled on 2 October 1986.The Ministers wishes to inform the Directorate-General that whilst awaiting the completion of the necessary procedures for the conclusion and the coming into force of the Agreement, the Governmentof Hong Kong is prepared to allow the provisions of the Agreement to apply de facto from 1 January 1987 if the Community is disposed to do likewise. This is on the understanding that either party may at any time terminate this de facto application of the Agreement provided that 120 days' notice is given.The Minister would be grateful if the Community would confirm its agreement to the foregoing.The Minister for Hong Kong Commercial Relations with the European Communities and the Member States avails himself of this opportunity to renew to the Directorate-General for External Relations the assurance of his highest consideration.Exchange of notesThe Directorate-General for External Relations of the Commission of the European Communities presents its compliments to the Minister for Hong Kong Commercial Relations with the European Communities and the Member States and has the honour to refer to the Minister's Note of regarding the Agreement in textile products negotiated between Hong Kong and the Community and initialled on 2 October 1986.The Directorate-General wishes to confirm to the Minister that whilst awaiting the completion of the necessary procedures for the conclusion and the coming into force of the Agreement, the Community is prepared to allow the provisions of the agreement to apply de facto from 1 January 1987. This is on the understanding that either party may at any time terminate this de facto application of the Agreement provided that 120 days' notice is given.The Directorate-General for External Relations avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Minister of Hong Kong Commercial Relations with the European Communities and the Member States the assurance of its highest consideration.
these goods are eligible for export in accordance with the arrangements established by this Agreement. Where the competent Community authorities so request, the information communicated shall also include copies of such other available documentation as may facilitate the full determination of the facts and, in particular, the true origin of the goods.4. For the purpose of subsequent verification of certificates of Hong Kong origin and export licences, copies of these together with relevant supporting documentation required to be lodged with the Hong Kong authorities for the issue of such certificates or licences shall be kept for a period of at least two years by the Hong Kong authorities.Article 181. Where the verification procedure referred to in Article 17 or where information available to the Community or to Hong Kong indicates or appears to indicate that the provisions of this Agreement are being contravened, both parties shall cooperate closely and with the appropriate urgency to prevent such contravention.2. To this end, Hong Kong 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 be in contravention of this Agreement. Hong Kong 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 Community and Hong Kong, officials designated by the Community may be present at the enquiries referred to in paragraph 2.4. In pursuance of the cooperation referred to in paragraph 1, Hong Kong and the Community shall exchange any information considered by either Party to be of use in preventing the contravention of the provisions of this Agreement. These exchanges may include information on textile production in Hong Kong and on trade in textile products of a kind covered by this Agreement between Hong Kong 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 Hong Kong 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 to the satisfaction of both Parties that the provisions of this Agreement have been contravened, Hong Kong and the Community agree to take all reasonable measures to prevent a recurrence of such contravention.ANNEX I to Protocol A (Article 2) >TABLE>PROTOCOL BThe annual growth rate for the quantitative limits introduced under Article 7 of the Agreement shall be determined as follows:For products in categories falling within Group I, II or III, the growth rate shall be fixed by agreement between the Parties in accordance with the consultation procedure established in Article 14 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 Hong Kong.Joint Declaration concerning Article 101. The Community and Hong Kong note the well-established and close cooperation which exists between the two parties in preventing and dealing with problems relating to the contravention throughcircumvention of the provisions of previous Agreements between the Community and Hong Kong, and, in particular, the mutually satisfactory solutions which have been reached on equivalent debiting of the corresponding quantitative limits established under those previous Agreements.2. The two parties reaffirm their willingness to strengthen this cooperation in all its aspects having regard to the administrative and technical procedures in force in the Community and Hong Kong for the implementation of this Agreement.3. Hong Kong confirms that its export control system permits the prompt debiting of circumvented amounts to the appropriate quantitative limits established under this and previous Agreements between the Community and Hong Kong.4. In agreeing to the provisions of Article 10, the Community and Hong Kong also agree, in the light of the foregoing, that for practical and specific reasons, paragraph 3 of that Article shall, as a general rule, be implemented in the following manner:- where the evidence provided clearly establishes that the provisions of this Agreement have been circumvented, Hong Kong undertakes, at the request of the Community, to debit the circumvented amounts to the appropriate quantitative limits for the year in which the circumvention took place or for subsequent years, the timing and apportioning of such debiting being decided in consultation with the Community, to ensure that, where appropriate, such debiting may be satisfactorily implemented.5. In respect of circumvention arising from imports into the Community before 1 January 1987, the following shall apply:- requests concerning imports from 1 January 1983 shall be dealt with under the terms of Article 10 of this Agreement and this Joint Declaration.6. Should the consultation period provided for in Article 14 (1) be insufficient to complete the examination of the evidence adduced the parties may agree to extend that period.Declaration concerning Article 2 (3) of the AgreementThe Community declares that, if any amendment is made to the rules of origin referred to in Article 2 (3) of the Agreement, the Community shall, with the agreement in Annex II.The procedures for the application of this paragraph are set out in Protocol A.2. In case of divergent opinions between Hong Kong and the competent Community authorities at the point of entry into the Community on the classification of products covered by the present Agreement, consultations in accordance withArticle 14 (1) shall be held with a view to reaching agreement on the appropriate classification of the products concerned and to resolving any difficulties arising therefrom.For this purpose, the authorities of Hong Kong shall be informed by the competent authorities of the Community as soon as a case of divergent opinions on the classification of products arises.Pending agreement on the appropriate classification and in order to avoid disruption to trade, the products in question shall be imported on the basis of the classification indicated by the competent Community authorities at the point of entry, in conformity with the provisions of this Agreement.Article 101. Hong Kong and the Community agree to cooperate fully in preventing the circumvention of the present Agreement by transhipment, re-routing or whatever other means.2. Where information available to the Community as a result of the investigation carried out in accordance with the procedures set out in Protocol A constitutes evidence that products of Hong Kong origin subject to quantitative limits established under this Agreement have been transhipped, re-routed or otherwise imported into the Community in circumvention of this Agreement, the Community may request the opening of consultations in accordance with the procedures described in Article 14 (1) of this Agreement, with a view to reaching agreement on an equivalent adjustment of the corresponding quantitative limits established under the Agreement.3. Should the parties be unable in the course of consultation to reach a satisfactory solution within the period specified in Article 14 (1) of the Agreement, the Community shall have the right, where clear evidence of circumvention has been provided, to deduct from the quantitative limits established under this Agreement amounts equivalent to the products of Hong Kong origin.Article 111. Hong Kong shall endeavour to ensure that exports of textile products subject to quantitative limits are spaced out as evenly as possible over an Agreement year, due account being taken, in particular, of seasonal factors.2. Export data shall be provided by the Hong Kong authorities promptly in such detail and as frequently as the Community may reasonably request. If, on the basis of such data, the Community has evidence that there is a sharp and substantial increase in the concentration of exports, other than a concentration attributable to normal seasonal factors, of particular products in any one category subject to quantitative limits established in Annex II, the Community may request consultations in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 14 of this Agreement with a view to remedying this situation.Article 121. For the purpose of the administration of this Agreement, the limits referred to in Article 3 are broken down into shares for each of the Community's regions as set out in Annex II.2. The Community undertakes to examine with care and reply within four weeks to any request by Hong Kong for a portion of any quantitative limit established in Annex II not used in one region of the Community to be re-allocated to another region.If, in the course of the application of the Agreement Hong Kong finds that the break-down of a limit established in Annex II causes particular difficulties, it may request the opening of consultations in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 14 with a view to reaching a mutually satisfactory solution.3. After the first of June of each year of application of the Agreement, Hong Kong may transfer, subject to prior notification to the Community, unused quantities within the regional quota-shares of a Community quantitative limit, set out in Annex II, to the quota-shares of the same limit of other regions of the Community provided that the regional quota-share from which the transfer is made is utilized by less than 80 %, and up to the amount of the following percentages of the quota-share to which the transfer is made:1 % in the first year of application of the Agreement.2 % in the second year of application of the Agreement,4 % in the third year of application of the Agreement,6 % in the fourth year of application of the Agreement.The percentage in the fifth year of the application of the Agreement shall be determined following consultations between the parties.4. Should it appear in any given region of the Community that additional supplies are required, the Community may, where measures taken pursuant to paragraph 1 above are inadequate to cover those requirements, authorize the importation of amounts greater than those stipulated in Annex II.Article 131. Hong Kong and the Community undertake to refrain from discrimination in the allocation of export licences and import documents respectively.Artikel 141. 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, together with a statement setting outthe 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 15 days of notification of the request at the year's total imports into the Community of products in that category, the following rates:- for categories of products in Group I:0,4 %,- for categories of products in Group II:2,0 %,- for categories of products in Group III:6,0 %.9. The Community further undertakes not to invoke the provisions of this Article on a regional basis before the level of export authorizations for textile products mentioned in paragraph 2 in any category exceeds the following regional percentages of the levels referred to in paragraph 8: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 %.10. Up to the date of communication of the statistics referred to in Article 9 (6) the provisions of paragraph 2 as qualified by paragraphs 7 and 8 of this Article shall apply on the basis of the annual statistics previously communicated by the Community.11. In order to facilitate forecasts of Hong Kong's future export trends, Hong Kong undertakes to supply the Community with half-monthly statistical returns showing the quantities covered by the export authorizations mentioned in paragraph 1 which are issued under the system to Hong Kong exporters. Such data on export authorizations shall be provided by the Hong Kong authorities promptly in such detail and as frequently as the Community may reasonably request.12. In the implementation of the provisions of the Article, Hong Kong shall notify the Community immediately upon receipt of any application for an export authorization in an exceptionally large amount.13. The Hong Kong authorties undertake to notify the Community of any changes to the export authorization system having a direct effect on the implementation of this Agreement. Where necessary, consultations may be requested under Article 14 (1) of this Agreement.14. The provisions of this Agreement which concern exports of products subject to the quantitative limits established in Annex II shall also apply to products for which quantitative limits are introduced under this Article.Article 81. Hong Kong undertakes to supply the Community with precise statistical information on all export licences issued by the Hong Kong authorities for all categories of textile products subject to the quantitative limits established under this Agreement.Hong Kong shall set out in its periodical statistical reports the maximum export levels for each category subject to a quantitative limit and the rate of utilization of these levels.2. The Community shall likewise supply to the Hong Kong authorities precise statistical information on import documents issued by the Community authorities in respect of export licenses issued by Hong Kong.3. The information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall, for all categories of products, be transmitted before the end of the second month following the quarter to which the statistics relate.4. For the purpose of applying provisions of Article 8, the Community may ask Bulgaria to transmit available statistical information on textiles exports of products covered by this Agreement by country of destination.The Community shall transmit to the Hong Kong authorities import statistics for all products covered by Article 7, and for products covered by Article 5 (1).5. The information referred to in paragraph 4 shall, for all categories of products, be transmitted before the end of the third month following the quarter to which the statistics relate.6. For the purpose of applying the provisions of Article 7, the Community undertakes to provide the Hong Kong authorities before 15 April of each year with the preceding year's statistics on imports of all textile products covered by this Agreement, broken down by supplying country and Community Member State.7. Should it be found on analysis of the information exchanged that there are significant discrepancies between the returns for exports and those for imports, consultations may be initiated in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 14 of this Agreement.Any such consultations shall be resolved on the basis of the agreed descriptions of the products contained in Annex I.8. Hong Kong also undertakes to supply the Community with statistical information on all textile exports by country of destination. This information shall be transmitted before the end of the third month following the quarter to which the statistics refer.Article 91. The authorities of Hong Kong shall be informed of any amendment to the Common Customs Tariff, the NIMEXE or the HS based nomenclatures of the Community or any decision, made in accordance with the procedures in force in the Community, relating to the classification of products covered by this Agreement.Any such amendment or any decision which results in a modification of the classification of products covered by this Agreement shall not have the effect of reducing Hong Kong's ability to use the quantitative limits established in Annex II.The procedures for the application of this paragraph are set out in Protocol A.2. In case of divergent opinions between Hong Kong and the competent Community authorities at the point of entry into the Community on the classification of products covered by the present Agreement, consultations in accordance withArticle 14 (1) governed by the following rules:- any request for consultations shall be notified in writing to the other Party, together with a statement setting outthe 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 15 days of notification of the request at the latest, with a view to reaching agreement or a mutually acceptable conclusion within a further 15 days 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 due to 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 differences between them.Article 15This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in 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 Hong Kong.Article 161. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the month following its signature. It shall be applicable until 31 December 1991.2. This Agreement shall apply with effect from 1 January 1987.3. Either Party may at any time propose amendments to this Agreement.4. Either Party may at any time denounce this Agreement, provided that at least 120 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 and Protocols, as well as Exchanges of Letters, Agreed Minutes and Declarations to this Agreement shall form an integral part thereof.Article 17This Agreement shall be drawn up in two copies in the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish languages, each of those 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.>POSIÇÃO NUMA TABELA>>POSIÇÃO NUMA TABELA>>POSIÇÃO NUMA TABELA>>POSIÇÃO NUMA TABELA>>POSIÇÃO NUMA TABELA>>POSIÇÃO NUMA TABELA>ANNEX II (*) >POSIÇÃO NUMA TABELA>PROTOCOL A TITLE ICLASSIFICATIONArticle 11. The competent authorities of the Community undertake to inform Hong Kong of any changes in the Common Customs Tariff, the NIMEXE or the HS based nomenclatures before the date of their entry into effect in the Community.2. The competent authorities of the Community undertake to inform Hong Kong of any decisions relating to the classification of products subject to the Agreement within one month of their adoption at the latest. Such communication shall include:(a) a description of the products concerned;(b) the relevant category and the related tariff and statistical references;(c) the reasons which have led to the decision.3. Where a decision on classification results in a change of classification practice or a change of category of any product subject to the Agreement, the competent authorities of the Community shall provide 30 days' notice, from the date of the Community's communication, before the decision is put into effect. Products shipped before the date of application of the decision shall remain subject to the earlier classification practice, provided that the goods in question are presented for importation into the Community within 60 days of that date.4. Where a Community decision on classification resulting in a change of classification practice or a change of categorization of any product subject to the Agreement affects a category subject to restraint, the Community undertakes to enter into consultations without delay in accordance with the procedures described in Article 14 (1) of this Agreement with a view to agreeing necessary adjustments to the appropriate quantitative limits established in Annex II and mitigating any disruptive effects which might arise from such a Community decision.TITLE IIORIGINArticle 21. Products originating in Hong Kong for export to the Community