Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
..In Confidence
DRAFT
To:-
Type 1 +
From
Telephone No. & Ext.
Department
EEC NEGOTIATIONS: THE ASSIMILATION TO COMMUNITY POLICY ON GENERALISED PREFERENCES AND COTTON TEXTILES
DRAFT BRIEF FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE AE MEETING ON 25 OCTOBER
AMENDED PARAGRAPH 9(a)
Although the FCO strongly resisted the original
decision to change to a tariff policy in 1972,
our position now is that we must hold firmly to
the new policy in 1972 even against likely
pressure from British industry to supplement the
tariff with quota restrictions. We have already
had to "pay" for the new policy by agreeing
compensation for Canada; by terminating the
Anglo-Indian Trade Agreement and (in order to
prevent a bad build-up in textiles imports in the
latter half of 1971) inserted a clause in the
Finance Bill to permit delayed entry, and without
paying the tariff, in the first months of 1972.
Thus to retreat now would create more problems
than it would solve.