CONFIDENTIAL
New Zealand, Canada, Australia and non-Commonwealth members of the
CPA
22.
23.
The future of New Zealand's agricultural produce is consid-.
ered in a separate paper. After British entry into the Community
the other exports of all three Commonwealth countries will face the
Communities' common external tariff and levics, which will be
applied progressively during a transitional period or periods.
Ministers decided in 1967 that we should not aim at
securing more for New Zealand (apart from the field of dairy
products) Canada and Australia, than the gradual application
of triffs and lovies over whatever transitional periods are
negotiated. The same applies to the non-Commonwealth members
of the Commonwealth Preference Area. No negotiating objectives
in respect of Canada and Australia were mentioned in the
statement to the Six made on behalf of Her Majesty's
Government on 4 July, 1967, and in both these countries the
Government appears reconciled to this. (It will be important
in the course of negotiations to keep these members of the
Commonwealth in touch with what is happening in Brussels; the
Canadian Government is already pressing for consultation in
advance of our entry negotiations).
Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland
24.
The customs union between these territories and South
Africa rules out the possibility of association for them,
since they could not reduce their tariffs vis-à-vis the
enlarged Community. There is a further difficulty, in that
it would be virtually impossible to distinguish, for Community
purposes, the exports of the former High Commission Territories
/from
CONFIDENTIAL