Mr Laird Mr Clewley
Kererence
了
D
E-
?
HONG KONG'S RELATIONSHIP TO GATT IN THE CONTEXT OF UNITED KINGDOM ENTRY INTO THE EEC
Attached are the papers for the July and October 1967 Talks with Hong Kong officials under the chairmanship of Sir A Snelling. Relevant papers on Hong Kong and GATT are flagged A- E.
2. Hong Kong's view of the problem is set out by Haddon Cave at (A) (11 July Second Session). The position as set out by him was:
(i)
because United Kingdom is the metropolitan power and Hong Kong a Colony, Hong Kong has no GATT relationship with the United Kingdom.
(ii) Through United Kingdom accepting the GATT
on Hong Kong's behalf, the latter has a GATT relationship with the Six, as separate contracting parties to the GATT. The United Kingdom as the metropolitan power speaks for Hong Kong at GATT meetings.
(iii)
United Kingdom has GATT relationships with the Six.
3. The Commonwealth Office view was that Hong Kong was not administratively or juridically a contracting party to the GATT although by virtue of the territorial application provisions of the Agreement she was treated as a Contracting Party so far as the substantive trade rules of the GATT were concerned. Both the Commonwealth Office and Hong Kong agreed that although there was no legal objection under GATT to the United Kingdom granting Hong Kong autonomy in the conduct of her external commercial relations so that Hong Kong could have a full GATT relationship to the United Kingdom, such a solution was politically unacceptable, because of the Chinese suspicion of any move to granting Hong Kong fuller independence. It was also pointed out that where action taken by another member of the EEC infringed Hong Kong's GATT rights and was a matter of national, not community policy, Britain would probably have a much freer hand in invoking the GATT on Hong Kong's behalf. It was also suggested by the Commonwealth Office that we might get the GATT provision that no rights and obligations were established between metro-
This politan powers and their dependencies, revoked. would give Hong Kong a voice in GATT without the need to change her constitutional position..
A PB Lambert
3 February 1972
DD 896639 140603 SCOM 7/71 GM 3443 2