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Saturday, November 10, 1973
"Our chief negotiator at the time had agreed to this arrangement
but he had made it clear to the Community that it would be the United
Kingdom's continuing concern to avoid discrimination against Hong Kong.
"The arrangements agreed by our partners in 1971 may have seemed
to them not ungenerous. But an important consideration now was that since,
1971 the situation had changed to the detriment of Hong Kong and that the
Philippines, Thailand and Yugoslavia, all of them serious competitors of
Hong Kong, had become beneficiaries under the Community's scheme in respect
of cotton textiles.
"We had examined this matter carefully and had concluded that in
present circumstances it was no longer acceptable for discrimination to apply
against Hong Kong.
"As this aspect of the scheme will remain unchanged for 1974, my
Right Honourable Friend has put his colleagues on notice that in the context
of next year's review we intend to press resolutely for the inclusion of
Hong Kong's textiles and footwear in the scheme from 1975 onwards."
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