J
2003230 C.F. 323
CONFIDENTIAL
Ref. CR/EIC 1000/13/7
Appendini 5.
TEXTAB M/1/70
MEMORANDUM FOR THE TEXTILES ADVISORY BOARD
Cotton Textiles Committee Meeting in Geneva
15 to 17 December 1969
The Cotton Textiles Committee met again from 15 to 17 December, to continue its discussion (begun at the October meeting) of the future of the Cotton Textiles Arrangement. Director-General of the GATT (Mr. O. Long) as usual took the chair.
The
Hong Kong was represented by Mr. D.H. Jordan and Mr. D.J.C. Jories
as Members of the British delegation which included Sir Eugene Melville, the U.K. Permanent Representative in Geneva, Mr. R. Goldsmith, (Under-Secretary, the Board of Trade) and Mr. P.W. Carey (Under- Secretary, Textiles Division, Ministry of Technology).
2.
The Chairman opened the first session with a proposal for an immediate adjournment to allow imparting and exporting countries to meet separately in an attempt to clarify their positions. He himself or his deputy, Mr. Patterson, took the chair at these group meetings also.
3.
The Chairman suggested that the group meetings should proceed on the basis of a hypothesis that the Arrangement would be extended for a further period. However, at the first exporters' meeting most of the delegates who spoke refused to commit themselves to this hypothesis. There were a number of general statements on the undesirability of the Arrangement and the need for improvements if it was to be extended, but very few specific proposals for improvement. The Hong Kong representatives ́intervened therefore towards the end of the meeting to suggest that the only realistic line was to accept the hypothesis and to get down to considering the specific improvements which the exporting countries should seek. However, the meeting broke up without this being done. ́ ́
4.
As a meeting of the GATT Council was being held on 16' December, there was no meeting of the C.T.C. on that day, but al meeting of the exporters' group was called for late in the afternoon. During the day the Secretariat sought discussions with the Hong Kong representatives as a result of which the latter formulated certain specific proposals which were put forward at the exporters' meeting. At this meeting, after a number of exporting countries had spoken again of their general dissatisfaction with the Arrangement, the Hong Kong representatives again suggested that the realistic way to proceed would be to accept the Chairman's hypothesis and also to · accept that the importing countries were not prepared to amend the text of the Arrangement; and to go on from there to consider how we could obtain improvements. The Chairman had suggested that if the Arrangement were to be extended, the improvements in its operation which the exp orting countries wished to see should be sought in bilateral discussions, but it was clear that many exporting countries felt that these bilateral discussions were unlikely to bring about much improvement. It was said that much the same suggestion had been made three years ago before the present extension of the Arrangement and that little had come of it.. The Hong Kong
J
L
/representatives...
!