Application for Recognition

Under the Electronic Transactions Ordinance (Cap. 553) ("ETO"), an application shall be submitted to the Government Chief Information Officer ("GCIO") for recognition in any one or more of the following situations :

• for recognition as a recognized certification authority ; or
• for renewal of recognition as a recognized certification authority; and/or
• for recognition of certificates.

Applicant shall complete this Application Form and provide information on the particulars and documents as specified in the Notes to Application Form.

(Regarding the assessment report mentioned in paragraph 2(ix) of the Notes to Application Form, please note that this report shall contain an assessment as to whether the certification authority ("CA") is capable of complying with the provisions of the ETO and of the Code of Practice for Recognized Certification Authorities ("Code of Practice") (such provisions are specified under paragraph 1 of Appendix 2 of the Code of Practice). The report shall be prepared by a person approved by the GCIO as being qualified to make such report.)

Please refer to the following links for the corresponding details of application for recognition:

• Application in Respect of Qualified Person (i.e. An Assessor)
• Submission of Application
• Application Fee
• Performance Pledge of Application

 Application in Respect of Qualified Person (i.e. An Assessor)

A CA shall apply to the GCIO for approval that the person whom the CA intends to engage for the preparation of an assessment report under section 20(3)(b), 27(5A)(b), 43(1)(a) or 43A(1)(c) of the ETO is a qualified person, and furnish the GCIO with the required documents and information in respect of the application. Qualifications of the person are set out in section 12 of the Code of Practice.

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Submission of Application

The application form and relevant documents can be submitted in person or by post / fax / electronic mail to the following address –

Electronic submissions can be submitted in the following manner : -

• through a digitally signed electronic mail to the designated e-mail address (caro@ogcio.gov.hk); or
• in cases of CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or USB Mass Storage Device, to Certification Authority Recognition Office, Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 17/F, The Hub, 23 Yip Kan Street, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong.

• For application for recognition, the application form in PDF format shall be used with the digital signatures properly applied onto the specified locations of the form.
• For any of the particulars and documents being part of an application for recognition (see " Notes to Application Form") and/or for engagement of a qualified person (see " Documents and Information Required for Application to Engage A Qualified Person under the ETO" ), they shall comply with the requirements stipulated under section 11(2) of the ETO. In this connection, please refer to the latest Gazette Notice for details.

Note: Some of documents (e.g. statutory declaration) that need to be submitted in the application for recognition could not be submitted in electronic means as they are excluded from the application of the ETO (see Schedule 1 to the ETO for details).

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Application Fee

The following fee information has been specified in the Electronic Transactions (Fees) Regulation (Cap. 553A).

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Performance Pledge of Application

The following performance pledges for processing applications in relation to recognition under the ETO are based on the assumptions that:

• all the particulars and documents required for an application have been submitted and are complete and in order; and
• there is no specific issue in an application that renders the related performance pledge not achievable.