CONFIDENTIAL
Hong Kong Office,
37-39 rue de Vermont,
Geneva.
22 September, 1969.
(109)
Toale
A
Preferences - EEC and Hong Kong
I managed to see Tran again late on Friday afternoon and left with him a copy of the enclosed paper which I explained I had prepared on a personal basis. I told him that we were very disappointed with the suggested proposals for Hong Kong that had now been put forward. They appeared to be little more than thinly veiled discrimination with no apparent logical justification. Why should Hong Kong be singled out for highly discriminatory treatment when e.g. Taiwan and South Korea were to participate in the scheme on the same basis as any other developing country?
2. Tran replied that the justification in the Com unity's eyes (which he did not personally agree with) was that Hong Kong was not a country. Similar treatment was being proposed for e.g. Macao and Angola. I reacted robustly to this: as far as
preferences were concerned we did not accept any distinction between "countries" and "territories".
Hong Kong was a separate
customs area, it received no special trading advantages from being a dependent territory and the OECD Special Group Report referred to "countries, territories and arcas". Tran said he
agreed but felt we should make this attitude clear at a higher
level.
3.
I then took Tran through my commentary and explained various points to him. He said that he would study it and get in touch with me again carly this week.
our discussion, however, ho did make the
R. Goldsmith, Esq.,
Board of Trado,
S.V.1.
CONFIDENTIAL
During the course of
following points:
LAST
Rr
113