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CONFIDENTI AL
RECEIVED W
ARCHIVES No 31
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HKK 6/365/
BRITISH EMBASSY,
VIENNA.
14 March, 1969
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The Ambassador has asked me to reply to your letter
CRE 19860/2G of 25 February about the anti-dumping tax applied
L
a consignment from Marks & Spencer Limited to an Austrian
customer,
I called on the senior official concerned in the Austrian Ministry of Trade, sektionschef Reiterer, tis morning and gave him an
ide Mémoire which set out the facts. This ended with the request that th: Ministry should enquire into the case urgently with a vine to refunding the uty and the introduction of effective measures to prevent a recurrence. It asked also for an assurance to this effect wich could be assed to Marks & Spencer Limited. I told Reiterer that this unfortunate case put us in a very
e barrassing position. Neither you nor British exporters had been happy about the Austrian Anti-dumping legislation. We had persuaded Departments in London, who in turn bad persuaded British exporters, to have confidence in the ass rance which had been given to us that the Law would not be applied to roperly-priced expa ts in a manner inconsistent with Austria's international obligations (it was Reitører himself incidentally who gave ve this assurance originally in 1967).
3.
Reiterer replied that he was very surprised by this case and that we thought that ther mu t have bein a mista' ́e. It was the first time that we had had cause to complain. e would certainly have the case investigated at once. This might take about three weeks and he hoped that we could be patient until then.
4. i hope you will agree that this is an encouraging first TE: onse. We shall return to the charge again in about three weeks' time if we have heard nothing further.
5.
also took the opportunity of the call to raise questions connected with the A strian equalisation tax and I am reporting tuis in a separate letter to George Barry.
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yours.
sending copies of this letter t the recipients of
P. S. Preston, Esq.,
Board of Trade,
C.R..D.
(F., Scott)
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CONFIDENTIAL