Foreign and Commonwealth Office
LONDON S.W.1.
Your Ref: CIM/67 170/11/5
ра
Our Ref:
HEK 6/549/1
2
MUN
11/12
14 November, 1968.
Thank you for your letter of the 7 November concoming the position of the Isle of Man vis-a-vis the United Kingdom.
2.
The Hong Kong Government have now replied with a query concerning the status of quota agreements entered into by the United Kingdom. Is it the case that such quota arrangements in practice cover the Isle of Man, and shipments of for example, Hong Kong cotton textiles to the Island should be debited against the United Kingdom quota balance? Or is it the case (es we hope) that as with the Channel Islands the United Kingdom quota arrange- ments do not apply to the Isle of Man, since the Island has not consented to them and Hong Kong can ship cotton textiles there without restrictions?
3.
This enquiry is not inspired by any thoughts of using the Isle of Man as a back door to the United Kingdom but simply by a wish to avoid unnecessarily debiting the quota balance by the amounts of any shipments to the Isle of Man.
4.
Would you also confirm that the current United Kingdom/ Hong Kong quota arrangements do not apply to any of the Channel Islands. We are concerned only with the constitutional position and any questions concerning the actual quota levels will of course be referred to the Board of Trade.
REF.
@
REAL
REF.
J. A. Chilcot, Esq.,
Home Office,
Whitehall,
LONDON S.W.1.
(I. R. MURRAY) Hong Kong Department
Cops HR26/550/1
a
Page
Page
HONG
5 4
KONG GOVERNMENT
OFFICE
PALL MALL LONDON S. W. I
Our Ref: 23/381CD
I.R. Murray, Esq.,
Hong Kong Department,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, LONDON, S.W.1.
a
Jain,
Your Ref: HKK 6/549/1
13th November 1968
14
Pleasa
Thank you for your letter of 11th November 1968 and for the copy of Chilcott's letter forwarded with it. I am afraid I must confess to finding some difficulty in interpreting the latter.
As I read Chilcott's letter, constitutionally the Isle of Man is in the same position as the Channel Islands and trade agreements entered into by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom should not apply to it for that reason. But, unlike the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, for practical reasons (e.g. it has no Čustoms service) has no separate existence as a trading unit. Is it the case then that for this non- constitutional reason, quota arrangements entered into by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom in practice cover the Isle of Man, and shipments of Hong Kong cotton textiles to the island should be debited against the U.K. quota balance? Or is it (as I hope) the case that, as with the Channel Islands, the U.K./Hong Kong quota arrangements do not apply to the Isle of Man since the island has not consented to them, and Hong Kong can ship cotton textiles there without restrictions?
Perhaps, if you are writing again to Chilcott, you would be good enough to ask him also to confirm that the current U.K./Hong Kong quota arrangements do not apply to any of the Channel Islands.
I should emphasise that this enquiry is not inspired by any thoughts of circumventing the current U.K./Hong Kong quota arrangements but by a wish to avoid unnecessarily debiting the quota balance by the amounts of any shipments to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
DMS/MDB
1
REF.
Чат
Danes
(D.M. Sellers)
req., desputat lalter to Chikot,
B.V. in I waskr.
RY
Coha
SEIVED IN ARCHIVES No.3: 14 NOV 1968
HKK6/550/1
11KX6/365/1
TELEPHONE 01-930-7951
CABLES HONGAID LONDON S.W.I
age 9
age 9