Import and Export (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 gazetted
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A spokesman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said, "We are grateful to the Legislative Council for passing the relevant bill to provide the legal basis for the implementation of TSW Phase 3, achieving another important milestone on trade facilitation. The TSW not only overhauls and enhances the document submission workflows between participating government agencies and the trade, but also enhances the efficiency of cargo clearance in Hong Kong and helps consolidate Hong Kong's status as an international trade centre and a logistics hub. The Government is pressing ahead with the development and testing of the information technology (IT) system of TSW Phase 3, with the target of rolling out the services by batches from 2026 onwards."
The Government is implementing the TSW in three phases to provide a one-stop electronic platform for the trade to lodge business-to-government trade documents for trade declaration and cargo clearance. Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the TSW have been in full service since 2020 and 2023 respectively, covering 42 types of trade documents in total. Phase 3 is the final and most complex phase of the TSW. It involves a large volume of documents submitted by a wide range of stakeholders, covering Import and Export Declarations (TDEC), cargo information required to be submitted under different transport modes (including Advance Cargo Information, Cargo Manifests and Cargo Reports), and applications for Certificates of Origin and Dutiable Commodities Permits. The IT system of Phase 3 will replace the long-established GETS and major cargo clearance systems of the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), and the trade will be required to use the TSW to submit relevant trade documents.
Features of Phase 3 include:
- trade members may submit trade documents via the TSW on their own or authorise value-added service providers to submit and verify information of trade documents and make payment on their behalf;
- trade members can submit pre-shipment TDEC and Cargo Manifests via the TSW on a voluntary basis; and
- trade members may submit road Cargo Manifest and return licences through electronic means, thereby saving operating cost.
To provide sufficient time for the trade to migrate to the new system, the Amendment Ordinance has included provisions on transitional arrangements to allow parallel run of TSW Phase 3 and GETS for a certain period of time. The C&ED will also launch a series of publicity, promotion and training programmes and provide support services prior to the rollout of Phase 3 services to ensure a smooth transition for the trade.
The main provisions of the Amendment Ordinance come into operation today, except for some provisions relating to the deletion of the existing legal framework of GETS, which shall take effect on a day to be designated by the Commissioner of Customs and Excise by notice published in the Gazette.
Ends/Friday, July 11, 2025
Issued at HKT 11:00
Issued at HKT 11:00
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