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109)
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UNITED KINGDOM DELEGATION TO OECD
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
TELNO: 16 SAVING
DATE: 29 MARCH 1971
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RECEIVED IN REGISTRY No.51
- 6 APR 1971
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Addressed to FCO telegram No. 16 Saving of 29 March repeated saving for information to UKMIS Geneva, UKDEL EC, Washington, Tokyo.
See IPST: OECD Trade Committee, 25/26 March meeting Second Development Decade: Trade Questions.
1. The Committee had a report from its working party (TC(71)8). Fox (US) also brought UNCTAD III into the picture with a long and rather woolly statement about the importance of the DD2 Strategy, the need for the developed countries to seek for "initiatives" if UNCTAD III wore not to be disappointing and unharmonious and the onus on the OECD countries, therefore, to prepare themselves properly by thoroughly examining all the possibilities for such initiatives. The US, while not dissenting from the various points in TC(71)8, thought the Committee's working party should meet in late April/carly. May, with commodity experts, to try to choose the commodities most susceptible to study and useful action. Then the working party should neet again in June to consider, in particular, measures to help the least developed countries; adjustment assistance; transfer of technology; and expansion of trade between 1des. He also referred to the US ideas on diversification and financing, of feasibility studies to help the African countries to benefit from preferences and hoped these would be accepted.
2.
A number of delegates, including those for the Commission, France, pan, Italy, Sweden and Canada, spoke on broadly similar lines. All agreed we needed to find constructive steps to help the ldes though in searching for then it was necessary to avoid simply settling on "lowest common denominators." OECD discussions could be useful but should try to complerent, and not duplicate, those held else ere. Several delegates thought the field of primary commodities important both in itself and in being something that could lead to direct help to the least developed countries, given their reliance on primary exports. But the old arguments about access or price stayed hidden. Panlucci (Secretariat) spoke also about UNCTAD III, its importance and the hope of the OECD Secretary-General that the developed countries would be able to make the most of their opportunities to help the 14cs: van Lennep would be putting proposals of a fairly general kind to the OECD Council soon about how the
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