RESTRICTED
4
General Aspects of a Preferences Schone
7.
and predictably
The Group also had a proliminery inconclusive discussion of some issues which would have to feature in any report it makes to the UNCTAD on a proferences schcne. The issues discussed were:-
(c) Legal Status
The general view that preferences should be a gift to the developing countries and that the donor countries should accept no legally binding obligation
the OECD Secretariat was clearly offired without dissent:
produced during the meeting a short draft text on this issue for further discussion at the Group's next meeting. (b) Beneficiary Territorios
The Chairman aired the idea of handling this difficult problem by starting from the question of which to exclude rather then include (ho specifically suggested South Africa, Israel and Cuba for a start) but his approoch found little support. Di Martino and Laloux (Belgium) then suggested that a starting point might be to include the UNCTAD Group of "77" (91 countrics now) but were vogue about how this list would be supplemented by other cases which would need to be added. There was no grcat support for this idea, either, with opposition particu-
The U.S. still larly from Stachelin (Switzerland).
favoured solf-selection and Morris strongly affirmed the U.K.'s adherence to this principle as set out in the
i.c. report of the O.E.C.D. Special Group of Four including dependant territories. The so-called developing countries of the 0.E.C.D. (Spain, Grecco, Portugal, Turkey) argued at great length the need for them to be included in the list of beneficiary territories. chairman's summing up was to the effect that in the absence of agreement on anything else the Group by implication remained commited to self-selection.
(c) Duretion of Preferences
The
The Chairman suggested 10 years for the scheme with a guarantee to the developing countrics that it would not be terminated abruptly: since the effect of this
RESTRICTED
/was to