120
124/€
GA 5/13
XX 6/8
M A Goodfellow Esq
RESTRICTED
UNITED KINGDOM MISSION
37-39 rue de Vermont, 1202 GENEVA
Telex: 22956
Telegrams: Prodrome, Geneva
Telephone: 34.38.00, 33.23.85
22 December 1972
PA
Mr. Grayso
Thurs
124
21/15/72
good
1/5/72
I have informed Air tellers
the batters HK Your office the Clarke TPD
AF
Hallow
28.
Hong Kong and Indian Ocean Dept Foreign & Commonwealth Office
London
Deen Gookfellow,
HONG KONG'S GATT STATUS
1. Our efforts to bring this matter up in a co-ordination meeting of the enlarged Community were at last successful on 18 December, as envisaged in our telegram no. 719.
2. At about 7.15 pm at the end of a fairly long meeting I raised the matter under Other Business and circulated copies of our text in the form of a letter in final form dated 20 December. I mentioned that we were sending the letter after receiving enquiries from a number of delegations. It was the view of the Director General of GATT that it would be useful if we wrote him a letter confirming that there was no change in Hong Kong's position, which he would circulate to the Contracting Parties.
3. The French representative lifted his finger and said that he noted that the letter was dated 20 December and assumed there- fore that it had not yet gone in. He would therefore send it off to Paris immediately. No one else commented except the Netherlands Chairman who said that the position of the Netherlands Antilles was somewhat similar.
4.
Having heard no more by 6 pm on 20 December, I duly sent the letter off to Long. A copy is enclosed.
Cc:
Miss J E Elliott
Towns ever.
AC Buston
(A C Buxton)
CRE 1, DTI
W Nicol Esq
UKDEL EEC, Brussels
The Director of Commerce & Industry, Hong Kong
GL Pearson Esq, UKMIS Geneva
RESTRICTED