A special office to deal with goods from the place of origin will be set up in Shenzhen as required by the General Administration of Customs following the signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA).

Under the new trade pact between Hong Kong and the mainland, 273 types of Hong Kong products will be tariff-free in mainland markets from Jan. 1, 2004.

Customs authorities revealed the news at a meeting right after the pact was signed Sunday. It also committed to offering support at technological and operational levels to ensure smooth implementation of the policies regarding the place of origin from Jan. 1, 2004.

The three aspects under the CEPA framework, namely trade in goods, services and investment facilitation, all relate to the daily operations of the customs. The customs would speed up reforms and improve efficiency to facilitate the trade and investment between the mainland and Hong Kong, according to Zou Zhiwu, head of Shenzhen Customs.

It will implement the automatic identification and check system on all lorries and trucks passing Huanggang Checkpoint from Monday. The system will also be implemented soon at Wenjindu and Shatoujiao checkpoints to minimize border-crossing time from two minutes to five seconds.

Editor: James