On 24 April 1986 the Director-General of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade circulated
to GATT contracting parties a communication (document L/5986) from the United Kingdom declaring
that Hong Kong, being a separate customs territory, possessed full autonomy in the conduct of its external
commercial relations and of the other matters provided for in the Agreement. The Director-General
then certified that, since the conditions required by Article XXVI:5(c) of the Agreement had been met,
Hong Kong had become a contracting party from 23 April 1986.