18
27.
It would therefore be appropriate for our own offer to be roduced. Duty quotas would be one possibility but as no other country has proposed these for processed products
The other we might not wish to introduce them ourselves, alternative is to reduce the number of items and/or the depth of cut. In practice, however, wo are very much in the hands of the developed countries of the Commonwealth Preference Area with contractual rights to margins of preference on
a number of products.
23. If all the processed agricultural items on which the developed Commonwealth countries have contractual preferences Here removed from the list the value of our offer would be reduced by 90 per cent, leaving it no better than the least generous of the offers by other countries indeed we might then be faced with the problem of trying to improve it.
The Commonwealth interest
29 (a) Developed
The developed Commonwealth countries face the prospect of sharing their preferences in the U.K. market with the non-Commonwealth developing countries without any compensating advantages. Certain Commonwealth countries moreover, have contractual rights to a considerable number of these preferences, mainly on products in Chapters 1-24, such as many canned neats and canned and dried fruits, but also on some products in Chapters 25-99, including leather and unwrought copper, load and zinc. In addition they generally have theright to be consulted about proposed reductions in proference on any goods in which they have a trade interest, and we are obliged in any case to consult the Commonwealth about tariff changes
affecting their tråde.
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