A truck carrying 310,000 rewritable compact discs passed through Shenzhen's Huanggang Checkpoint on Wednesday, marking the first entry of duty-free Hong Kong products under the CEPA agreement.

With a total value of HK$235,000 (US$30,245), the shipment was exempted from tariffs of 12,319.4 yuan (US$1,488). The importer is a trade company in Dongguan.

The free-trade deal will save billions of dollars for Hong Kong companies each year, and will mean lower prices for mainland consumers of more than 4,000 products in 374 categories.

In 2002, the mainland imported such products worth US$4.7 billion, involving import duties of about US$750 million.

On Tuesday, a Shenzhen trade company applied for customs clearance for the discs. Shenzhen Customs approved the shipment after verifying the details through the online network link with Hong Kong, a customs spokesman said.

The certificate of place of origin was issued by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce on Monday.

Issuing agencies in Hong Kong have accepted 47 applications and processed 33 from Dec. 31 to Wednesday. The goods will be imported through Huanggang and Wenjindu checkpoints, according to the customs officials.

Among the applications, 20 are for a popular over-the-counter Chinese herbal cough syrup. The shipment is valued at HK$10.9 million with duty exemption of 347,000 yuan. Three are for rewritable discs worth of HK$777,000 with duty exemption of 34,800 yuan.

Other Hong Kong products including fashions, electronic products, jewelry and watches are expected to hit the mainland markets later.

Customs expect that 80 percent of the duty-free products will enter mainland cities through Shenzhen. It has launched a special electronic data interchange system with Hong Kong to expedite customs clearance for goods imported under the CEPA framework.
 

Editor: Wings