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
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 in accordance with the arrangements established by this Agreement shall be accompanied by a certificate of Hong Kong origin conforming to the model annexed to this Protocol.2. The certificate of Hong Kong origin shall be issued by the competent governmental authorities of Hong Kong if the products in question can be considered products originating in that country within the meaning of the relevant rules in force in the Community.3. Certificates of Hong Kong origin shall contain a full and detailed description of the goods. In particular, certificates of Hong Kong origin shall indicate:- in respect of clothing, shipments where the articles in question are incomplete or unfinished;- in respect of fabrics, including knitted or crocheted fabric and products of categories 95 and 96, shipments where the products in question are dyed, printed, impregnated or coated,- and in respect of products of categories 19, 20, 38B, 39, 40 and 84, shipments where the articles in question are embroidered.4. The certificate of Hong Kong origin referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be required for import of goods covered by a certificate of origin Form A completed in accordance with the relevant Community rules in order to qualify for generalized tariff preferences.Article 3The discovery of slight discrepancies between the statements made in the certificate of origin and those made in the documents produced to the customs office for the purpose of carrying out the formalities for importing the product shall not ipso facto cast doubt upon the statements in the certificate.TITLE IIIDOUBLE-CHECKING SYSTEM FOR CATEGORIES OFPRODUCTS WITH QUANTITATIVE LIMITSSection IExportationArticle 4The competent authorities of Hong Kong shall issue an export licence in respect of all consignments from Hong Kong of textile products referred to in Annex II, up to the relevant quantitative limits as may be modified by Articles 6, 12 and 14 of the Agreement and of textile products subject to any definitive or provisional quantitative limits established as a result of the application of Article 7 of the Agreement.Article 51. The export licence shall conform to the model annexed to this Protocol. It must certify, inter alia, that the quantity of the product in question has been set off against the quantitative limit prescribed for the category of the product in question.2. Each export licence shall only cover one of the categories of products listed in Annex II of the Agreement.Article 6The competent Community authorities must be notified forthwith of the withdrawal or alteration of any export licence already issued.Article 71. 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 isued after such shipment.2. For the purposes 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 8The presentation of an export licence, in application of Article 10 below, shall be effected not later than 31 March of the year following that in which the goods covered by the export licence have been shipped.Section IIImportation Article 9Importation into the Community of textile products subject to quantitative limits shall be subject to the presentation of an import authorization or document.Article 101. 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 about 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 and Hong Kong shall be informed as soon as possible.Article 111. If the competent Community authorities find that the total quantities covered by export licences issued by Hong Kong 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 6, 12 and 14 of the Agreement, or any definitive or provisional limit established under Article 7 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 Hong Kong and the special consultation procedure set out in Article 14 (1) of the Agreement shall be initiated forthwith.2. Exports of Hong Kong origin not covered by Hong Kong export licences issued in accordance with the provisional of this Protocol may be refused the issue of import authorization or documents by the competent Community authorities.However if the import of such products is 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 Avis juridique important|21988A0414(01)Acordo entre a Comunidade Económica Europeia e Hong Kong sobre o comércio internacional de têxteis Tradução não oficial Jornal Oficial nº L 097 de 14/04/1988 p. 0002 - 0040 Carryover to the corresponding quantitative limit for the following Agreement year of amounts not used duringany one Agreement year may be agreed following consultations in accordance with the procedures referred to in Article 14 (1) for each category of product between 2 % and 7 % of the quantitative limit for the current Agreement year.3. Transfers in respect of categories in Group I shall not be made from any categories except as follows:- transfers between categories 2 and 3 may be made for any Agreement year up to 4 % of the quantitative limit for the category to which the transfer is made,- transfers between categories 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 may be made for any Agreement year up to 4 % of the quantitative limit for the category to which the transfer is made.Transfers into any category in Groups II and III may be made from any category or categories in Groups I, II and III for any Agreement year up to 5 % of the quantitative limit for the category to which the transfer is made.The table of equivalence applicable to such transfers is given in Annex I to this Agreement.4. The increase in any category of products resulting from the cumulative application of the provisions in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 above during an Agreement year shall not exceed 12 %.5. Prior notification shall be given by the authorities of Hong Kong in the event of recourse to the provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 above.6. Hong Kong shall provide the Community with export data showing the amounts of carryover available in any Agreement year. If substantial statistical differences exist between the export data from which the amount to be carried over is calculated and the Community's data, the Community may, within the first 120 days of the following Agreement year, request consultations in accordance with the procedures referred to in Article 14 (1) on the amounts involved. Any such request shall be accompanied by full particulars of the alleged statistical differences. Where such a request is made, the portions carried over shall not be used until the parties have completed consultations. If no such request is made within a 120-day period, the portion carried over shall be presumed to have been calculated correctly.Article 71. Given the desire of both parties to eliminate real risks of market disruption, and in view of the well-established and effective Hong Kong system of export authorization, the following procedures shall apply.2. Exports of textile products described in the categories listed in Annex I which are not subject to quantitative limits in Annex II shall be subject to the issue of export authorizations.3. In respect of textile products covered by export authorizations mentioned in paragraph 2 above, theCommunity may request consultations in accordance with the procedure described in Article 14 (1) with a view to establishing a quantitative limit.4. Until a mutually acceptable conclusion has been arrived at by means of such consultation, Hong Kong undertakes, if so requested, to suspend from the date of receipt of the request for consultation, the issue of export authorizations for the product or products in any category concerned, and to inform the Community forthwith of the level of quantities covered by export authorizations issued at the time of suspension. The Community shall accept exports from Hong Kong of the product or products concerned in respect of export authorizations issued prior to the receipt of the request for suspension.5. Should the parties be unable in the course of consultations held in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 to reach a mutually acceptable solution, Hong Kong undertakes, if so requested by the Community, to limit exports of the product or products in the category in question for the Agreement year in which the request for consultations is made to an annual level not lower than the highest of the following:(a) the level of imports into the Community in 1985 of products originating in Hong Kong in that category;(b) the level resulting from the application of paragraph 8 below;(c) the level resulting from the application of paragraph 9 below;(d) 106 % of the level of exports reached during the calendar year preceding that in which the level of export authorizations issued by Hong Kong exceeded the level resulting from the application of paragraphs 8 and 9 and gave rise to the request for consultations; or(e) the level of export authorizations already issued at the time of suspension.6. The annual growth rate for the quantitative limits introduced under this Article shall be determined during the course of the consultations referred to in paragraph 3 above.7. The provisions of this Article may be invoked by the Community at a regional level.8. The Community undertakes not to invoke the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Article before the level of export authorizations for textile products mentioned in paragraph 2 in any category exceeds, in relation to the preceding 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