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it would lead to complications in Customs administration,
and it might not compare very favourably with the free entry offered (with limitations by volume) by the EIC and by some
other countries. Alternative (a) appears likely to involve
the objections inherent in all the options and we must therefore
fall back on (c) and consider whether this might be the solution
to these various difficulties.
20. A revised offer by the U.K. consisting of duty free quotas
based on the EEC's proposals with a minimum of exceptions would
have the advantage of apparent simplicity. The main advantages
of this course can be described as political, economic and
presentational:
(a) Political arguments. There are obvious political
advantages in aligning our offers closely with those of the
EEC,
and practical considerations in not requiring substantial
changes to our preferential arrangements on becoming a member
of the Community.
(b) Economic arguments.
Of the major industrialised
countries the six members of the EEC are the most similar to the
U.K. in terms of their international trade and, in particular,
their existing trade with the developing countries, although
collectively their market is three and a half times the size
of our's. By comparison the proportions of the US and Japanese
markets taken by developing countries exports are very much
smaller, except in the case of a few products. It is therefore
economic sense that the U.K. shall align itself with the EEC
in its treatment of imports from developing countries outside
the existing preferential arrangements.
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