(17259) Dd.897459 250m 12/72 G.W.B.Ltd. Gp.863 (16941) Dd.897300 250m 9/72 G.W.B.Ltd. Gp.863
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
CONFIDENTIAL
in the records of the enlargement conference.
The Community's GSP is implemented by means of
annual Council Regulations. Those concerning
textiles and footwear omit Hong Kong from the list
of beneficiaries. Accordingly, it would, as a pure
matter of Community law be possible to modify the
relevant regulations by including Hong Kong among
the list of beneficiary countries, since this would
not involve any breach of the Act of Accession
itself.
8. The Legal Advisers consider that the terms of
the Community agreement on Hong Kong in principle
regulate definitively the question whether and on
what conditions Hong Kong should be included among
the beneficiaries of the Community GSP scheme.
Therefore to depart from the terms of an "agreement"
formerly recorded in the records of the enlargement
conference, it would need to be proved without any
question of doubt that the Community GSP scheme for
textiles (or footwear) has been modified since 1971
for other beneficiaries as regards the size of quotas
and the number of beneficiaries. In other words
that discrimination against Hong Kong in favour of
its principal competitors among the developing
countries, had been intensified to such an extent as
to justify re-opening the issue. If this case could
be made (and Hong Kong believes that it can) then
there should be a tenable case for re-opening the
position.
(D) Options
9.
The question remains however, was Mr Rippon's
statement to the Community intended to be immutable?
It was obviously not the intention of Mr Rippon
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/himself