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Whe
perfundenda tend to the view that above all it is important
that Hong Kong should not be discriminated
against in European markets to the advantage
of her trading rivals. Because of this we hom
been
Why don
consider it!tant that Hong Kong should be
included within the beneficiaries under the
UNCTAD Scheme for Generalised Preferences for
developing countries, and have been active on
her behalf in this field.
Whnit
We consider it equally important that, as
the Community (before
or after enlargement)
formulates its commercial policy towards Hong Kong, this policy should be as liberal in its
provisions as possible. Once we are inside
the Community, of course, our task in
protecting Hong Kong's interests will be
casier
[greatly helped)
Nevertheless, the fact that
we are still only on the fringe has certainly
not led us to neglect Hong Kong.
Addressing myself briefly to the possible
courses of action you mentioned in your letter
I should like to begin by pointing out that the
reduction of Commonwealth Preferences
privileges will have to take place over what- ever transitional period we negotiate for entry into the Communitie. At present we
have asked for a 3-year period for the reduction
of our tariffs vis-a-vis the Community and the
application of the common external tariff to
imports from third countries. The actual
period upon which we and the Community will
eventually settle is not something which I can
predict at this point.
The decision to
impose tariffa on Commonwealth textiles from
1 January, 1972, was taken for reasons
unconnected with our application for EEC
/membership
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