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AIDE MEMOIRE
In their Aide Memoire of the 18 June 1969 the Government
of India drew attention to the change in Hong Kong's arrangements
for the import of unmanufactured tobacco, as a result of which
a preferential rate of duty which had existed previously was
eliminated except in the case of Malawi.
2.
The Government of India will be aware of the correspondence
on this question exchanged between the Counsellor for Hong Kong
Affairs in the UK Mission to the GATT and the Resident
Representative of India to the GATT in December 1968. In his
letter of 18 December the Counsellor set out at some length
the position of the Hong Kong Government in this matter and in
a subsequent letter of 23 January 1969 confirmed that his
Government had seen and endorsed his statement.
3.
Her Majesty's Government have carefully considered
the points made by the Government of India and wish to express
their regret if the latter consider that there was any lack of
consultation in the closing stages of the Kennedy Round. They
must, however, point out that the concession offered by Hong Kong
on unmanufactured tobacco appeared in the final schedules and was
therefore accepted, as an integral part of the agreement, by all
the Signatories of the Geneva (1967) Protocol, including of
course the Government of India. By signing this Protocol the
Government of India must be held to have accepted the
consequential changes in any preferential margins to which they
/may