L
MTU 1/1
CONFL
CONFT DENTIAL
TRACE POLICY DEPARTMENT,
17
14 January, 1969
I have seen Hannay's letter to you (6/14) of 7 January about the Community's consideration of the UNCTAD tariff preference scheme.
2+ I realise that at the present stage it would be difficult to hold detailed discussions with the Commission. Clearly the real bargaining can only start when all the cards are on the table. At the same time I doubt if we can afford to wait until the formal offers are tabled in OECD before arguing our case on specific points where our interests are likely to be directly affected. In such cases, it would surely be better to feed in our views as soon as possible in the hope of influencing the opening position adopted by other countrics in the OECD talks, 2nd, as Hannay points out, this is particularly important in the case of the Community where there may be little room for manoeuvre once a position has been agreed between the six.
3*
and I am I am aware that Goldsmith has argued privately sure cogentiy with di Martino our concern about Hong Kong, Lut I hope that if di Martino comes to London you will be able to take the more formal opportunity to emphasise Hong Kong's case as well as to have a general exchange of viewa on the subject of the preference scheme. If the visit does not take place I think it would be useful, subject to anything that emerges from the meeting of the Community's Working Group, for the Delegation
In in Brussels to gp-ak to the Commission about Hong Kong. either case this could be followed up by informal approaches to the member states. The exact points to be made will, of course, depend to some extent on the course of the discussion in the Community's Working Group and we shall need to consider them carefully.
4.
Incidentally, may I say that since the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices we in Trade Policy Department have been dealing with the UNCTAD generalised preference scheme. Copies of correspondence on this subject should therefore be sent to me and not to George Whitehead, and if you see no objection copies might also be sent to Hall.stewart in Hong Kong Department of the F.C.0.
0. HL Kemmis, Esq., Board of Trade, London, S.W.1.
' (R. G. BRITTEN)
CONFIDENTIAL