RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SG/W/145
12April 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-1281)
Original: English Committee onSafeguards
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYJAPAN1CONCERNING
THE NOTIFICATION OFLAWS AND REGULATIONS OF
MACAO2UNDER ARTICLE 12.6OFTHE AGREEMENT
Thefollowing communication, dated 28March 1996, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofMacao.
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1. Please advise thesituation ofthereview ofthecurrent legislation.
Therevision process ofthenotified legislation wascompleted on18December 1995thedate
onwhich Decree-Law No.66/95/M waspublished, enshrining thenewforeign tradeoperations
system.
Theabove-mentioneddiploma,thatsuperseded,interalia,thesystemnotifiedearlieron(Decree-
LawNo.50/80/M of30December 1980), isinforce since 1January 1995.
2. Please advise major changes tobereflected intherevised legislation asaresult ofthereview.
Themainobjectives oftherevision exercise weretoreduce bureaucratic procedures, simplify
andliberalise theframework regulating foreign tradeoperations, withaviewtobothadapting
thenewinstrument totheTerritory 'sneweconomic reality aswellastothecommitments
undertaken byMacau initscapacity asfullMember oftheWorld Trade Organization.
Thealterations introduced, hence, vis-à-vis thesystem notified then,weredesigned toenable:
- simplification ofmethods usedinforeign trade operations, adapting theclassification
offlows totheKyoto Convention;
- simplification andfacilitation ofadministrative procedures required from business
operators;
- liberalization ofthegoods transit system;
- elimination ofthecompulsory application ofthethrough freight system and
implementation ofaframework ofduties andobligations whereby accountability is
required from bothshipper andcompanies involved inforeign trade operations.
1G/SG/W/79.
2G/SG/N/1/MAC/1.G/SG/W/145
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With regard todispositions thatmayapply tomeasures covered bytheAgreement where
safeguardsareconcerned,specialrelevancemustbegiventotherevision(consistentwiththeAgreement)
undertaken ofprovisions inArticle 16,para4,andArticle 29,para5.
Forinformation purposes (without prejudice offorwarding ofthefulltranslated textofthe
newlegislation), themain characteristics oftherevised system areoutlined below.
1. With regard toexport operations inparticular, these aregenerally freeandtheircarrying out
infullcannot berefused, providing thattherelevant document (Declaration) tobesubmitted tocustoms
authorities isproperly filled outandtrulyreflects thelistofgoods being exported,
Exceptions tothesystem:
1.1 Temporary exports3and
1.2 Domestic exports4ofgoods listed intheAnnex tothelegislation, which aresubject
toprevious authorization -thatis,whose actual export issubject tothepriorissueofalicence
bythecompetent authorities. Such alicence istobeissued within three business daysafter
submission oftherelevant application.
2. Import operations aretoo,asarule,free,depending solely upon thesubmission tocustoms
authorities, atthetimeofimportation, ofaproperly filled Declaration.
Exceptions tothesystem:
2.1 Re-imports5and
2.2 Imports ofgoods listed intheAnnex tothelegislation, thataresubject topriorissuing
ofalicence bythecompetent authorities, within three business daysaftersubmission ofthe
relevant application.
Thefollowing regulations should alsobenoted:
- entry ofanygoods intotheTerritory maydepend upon asanitary orphytosanitary
control carried outbytherelevant authorities. Goods tobesubject tosuchcontrols
aredetailed inalisttobepublished intheGovernment 'sGazette;
- imports ofgoods whose entry intotheTerritory isdeemed tobecontrary tothepublic
interest (namely forhealth andpublic security reasons) maybeprohibited, restricted,
conditionedorsubjecttoemoluments,asprovidedforbyGovernor'sDecisionpublished
intheGovernment 'sGazette;
3"Temporary exports" areunderstood astheexitfromtheTerritory, foralimited period oftime,
ofanygoods intended forfuture re-imports intoMacau, either inthesamestateasatthetimeofexiting
orafterundergoing transformation, improvements orexternal repairs.
4"Domesticexports"areunderstoodastheexitfromMacauofanygoodsoriginatingintheTerritory.
5"Re-imports" areunderstood asthere-entry inMacau ofanygoods which hadbeenpreviously
exported from theTerritory.G/SG/W/145
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- asaresult of,orconsistent withtheprovisions ofinternational agreements orcovenants
towhich Macau isaparty to,theimport, export andtransit ofspecific goods (namely
radioactive ortoxic), mayalsobeprohibited orsubject toconditions, astobeprovided
byGovernor 'sDecision intheGovernment 'sGazette.