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CONFIDENTIAL
135
United Kingdom Delegation to the European Communities,
28 rue Joseph II,
BRUSSELS 4.
31 October, 1969:
134
UNCTAD Preferences: Hong kong.
When I spoke to Tran about the Council's approval of the Commission's proposal on UNCTAD preferences (UKDEL E.E.C. Tel. No. 235 refers), he told me that he had recently spoken to you on the telephone about the Community position on beneficiaries and their insistence on the inclusion of the words "in general" in the O.E.C.D. paper. He felt that he had not explained the Community position very well in English, and said he would be grateful if I would do so.
The main point Tran made was that the Community's insistence on the inclusion of the words "in general" was not designed to help them exclude Hong Kong but was principally dirccted at enabling them to exclude Portugal and, perhaps, East European and state trading countries. The maintenance of the second sentence, with its direct reference to the report of the Group of Four was, he said, a guarantee that dependent territories would not be ruled out. He had tried to suggest to Di Martino that the words "at a first stage" should be substituted for "in general" but had made no headway.
3. I replied that I would pass this information on to you but that the Commission must realise that the inclusion of the words "in general" represented a clear step back from the formulation in the report of the Group of Four, to which we attached the greatest importance; and that they were in effect substituting a subjective for an objective criterion.
LA
NEXI
REF.
(134)
R. Goldsmith, Esq.,
Board of Trade.
Copy to:-(
(D. H. A. Hannay)
RECEIVED I REGISTRY No. 43
UTU 15/393/1
0. Kemais, Esq., c/o.T..Muir, Esq., UKDel, O.E.C.D. R. Britten, Esq., Trade Policy Department, F.C.O• D. J. C. Jones, Esq., UKMIS, Geneva.
CONFIDENTIAL