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Reference
166
HONG KONG/SWEDISH TEXTILE NEGOTIATIONS
16 18 June 1969
SA
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A telegram is on its way from Stockholm outlining briefly the agreement reached between Mr. Jordan of the Hong Kong Department of Commerce and Industry and the Swedish Government on textiles. Briefly Mr. Jordan agreed that Hong Kong would continue to exercise restraint on sweaters and anoraks and also to introduce a new restraint on shirts of discontinuous synthet- ic fibre at the following levels:
Sweaters
Anoraks
Shirts
(Men's and boys' of wool, Women's and girls' of wool and discontin- uous synthetic fibre)
(Men's and boys' and Women's and girls' of continuous and discontin- uous synthetic fibre)
(of discontinuous synthetic fibre)
2,210,000 pices
545,000
pieces
625,000
pieces
He agreed to continue Export Authorisations for undergarments, blouses and men's and boys' sweaters and discontinuous synth- etic fibres. The Swedes agreed to drop their request for restraint on blouses unconditionally and to drop for the time being their request for restraint on undergarments on the under- standing that the Hong Kong Government would be prepared to have further consultations with them when they can provide new figures about their production of undergarments and show that rising imports are causing damage to producers.
2. Mr. Jordan and the Swedish Government representative, Baron de Geer initialled a Memorandum of Understanding covering the cotton items which it was previously agreed should be kept under restraint in the year beginning 1st July 1967, and agreed the texts of an exchange of letters on cotton garments which the Hong Kong Government had previously agreed to continue to make subject to Export Authorisation, an exchange of letters about the non-cotton items which the Hong Kong Government will keep under restraint and an exchange of letters about non-cotton items which the Hong Kong Government will make subject to Export Authorisation. The texts of these letters were intialled by Mr. Longbottom, the Commercial Secretary of the British Embassy in Stockholm, in my pressence after Mr. Jordan's departure, and photocopies will be sent to us by the Embassy. There was no dispute about the terms of these documents which make suitable provisions for carry overs and also for the extention by mutual agreement of the validity of any outstanding Export Authorisation should the Swedes request suspension of exports of any such items. It was agreed that the Swedish and Hong Kong Govern- ments would issue short press statements announcing the agreements reached.
RECEIVED IN
REGISTRY NOTE-
25 JUN 1969
14KX6/551/
;
T
167) (170) 167
13.