SAVING TELEGRAM
EY BAG
UKDEL
UKDEL 0.E.C.D. TO FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
TELNO. 50 Saving
8 September, 1969
34
RESTRICTED
NEUTRAL,
RECEIVED IN REGISTRYNO.43 1 SEP 1969
MTU 15/2
Addressed to Foreign and Commonwealth Office Telegram No. 50 Saving of 8 September 1969 repeated for information to UKDEL EEC: UKMIS Geneva (for Goldsmith and Jones) Washington, and Tokyo.,
The O.E.C.D. Ad Hoc Group on Preferences for developing countries met from 3-5 September. Wintermäns (Netherlands) was in the chair. Morris (Board of Trade) represented the U.K.
(a)
· Examination of Further Illustrative Lists
United States
Leary (State Department) added little of substance to the United States illustrative list. Recommendations wore expected to be made shortly to the President following the completion of the inter-departmental policy review, though he could not indicate a time-table. The U.S. did not necessarily favour the competitive need approach set out in their list but had put it forward for discussion believing it had advantages,' c.g. it was non-discriminatory and preferable to the cutright exclusion of commodities or countries. Under the competitive nced formula, however, once a developing country had secured 10 per cent or noro of United States imports of any product sucing the withdrawal of the preference, to erlied to that country,
/stop was to be permanent. They were not sure if a fixed base
year would be adopted for the calculations of imports or whether the base would be rolled forward. Other points made by Leary were that the U.S. would find it difficult to be more precise. on the definition of "sensitivo categories". from the broad groups set out in their illustrativo list both for "constitu- tional" considerations and the need to have a clearer idea of the eventual outline of
the preferences scheme: nor were they decided. on how eventually
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