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b. It was important to resist proposals damaging to Hong Kong,
particularly when we were already under pressure from Hong Kong to
improve the terms on which they had been admitted to the Community's
GSP following the enlargement negotiations. Other Member States were likely to fight this hard but we should continue to oppose any solution under which the United Kingdom unilaterally accepted a
disproportionately large share of Community quotas for the products
concerned.
C. Complaints from the independent Asian Commonwealth countries
arising from the 1974 GSP could be considered under the Joint
Declaration of Intent; but it would be misleading to suggest that discussions held in accordance with the Declaration would prove any
easier than those in the GSP context.
d. There might well be criticism of the effects on domestic food
prices of alignment to the Community's GSP. Presentationally it was
awkward that a large number of imported foodstuffs which had hitherto
had free access to the United Kingdom would become dutiable on
1 January 1974; but on only 3 of these - canned pineapple, soluble
coffee and cocoa butter - was there likely to be any direct pressure
on retail prices as a result. In the wider context it should be borne
in mind that the changes following United Kingdom alignment to the Community GSP were only a part of the wider process of tariff adjust- ment which was under way following our accession to the Community and involved advantages as well as disadvantages for the United Kingdom.
THE CHAIRMAN, summing up the discussion, said that the Committee agreed that Ministers should be advised that our aim should be to reach agreement
with our Community partners on the lines proposed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) bofore the Community'n GSF for 1974 was considered by the
Council on 5-6 Novembor. It would be useful to lobby other Member States
before COREPER discussed the matter and the DTI should pursue this in consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, It would
be necessary to review the line to be taken in the Council at a
later stage in the light of discussions in OCREPER; we would however
wish to avoid a major conflict on GSP in the Council particularly as this would be likely to involve us in fighting a losing battle. If we succeeded
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