1.

Member(s) notifying:

Hong Kong, China and the EFTA States

2.

Date of notification:

15 October 2024

3.

Notification pursuant to:

[X]    Paragraph 14 of the Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements (_WT/L/671)

4.

Changes affect:

[  ]    goods

[X]    services

[  ]   both

5.

Original RTA being modified:

Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Hong Kong, China

6.

WTO document reference of original notification of RTA: _WT/REG322/N/1 and _S/C/N/654

7.

Parties to the Agreement:

Hong Kong, China and the EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland)

8.

Date of adoption: 31 October 2017

9.

Date(s) of entry into Force/provisional-application:

1 May 2021 (entry into force for Hong Kong, China and Switzerland)

10.

Brief description of the changes: The original Annex VII of the Agreement provides that Hong Kong, China, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland shall continue to develop and conclude a set of comprehensive disciplines on domestic regulation for incorporation into the Agreement. Said disciplines have been agreed and replaced the text of Annex VII, with the new text applying to Hong Kong, China and Switzerland. The disciplines cover among others licensing and qualification requirements as well as procedures, technical standards, and transparency.

11.

Text and related schedules, annexes and protocols are:

[X]    submitted to the WTO Secretariat (electronic format)

[X]    available from the following official Internet link(s):

EFTA:

https://www.efta.int/sites/default/files/documents/legal-texts/free-trade-relations/hong-kong-china/Joint-Committee-Decisions/EFTA-Hong-Kong-China-Joint-Committee-Decision-No-4-2017.pdf

https://www.efta.int/trade-relations/free-trade-network/hong-kong-china

Hong Kong, China:

https://www.tid.gov.hk/english/ita/fta/hkefta/files/decision4.pdf

https://www.tid.gov.hk/english/ita/fta/hkefta/index.html