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8. A procedure was agreed for the accession to the Arrangement of countries which are not Contracting Parties to the GATT. Such countries must submit a written declaration to the Committee accepting the Arrangement without qualification and giving the under taking provided in Article 13(2). The Community also successfully pressed the countries which had already filed applications in the proper form to make a further statement saying that they expected treatment equal to that granted to other participating countries having a similar economic system and a comparable level of economic development. This ingenious formula was dovised to avoid the risk of placing State Trading countries which are not GATT members (eg Bulgaria) in a more favourable position under the Textiles Arrangement than others (eg Hungary) whose treatment is modified by the Protocols of their Accession to, the GATT. Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia were admitted on the spot under this procedure, having made all the declarations required.
9. Only one point of interpretation of the Arrangement was raised formally in the Committee. Spain disagreed with the ruling made some time ago by the Secretariat that Article 2(1) should be taken to mean that countries which took part in the conclusion of the Arrangement on 20 December 1973 were required to notify existing textile restrictions within sixty days from 1 January 1974. Opinion was overwhelmingly against the Secretariat's view (which was not defended by Long) but opinions were divided over whether the sixty-day timclimit should run from the date on which a country notified formal acceptance of the Arrangement or from the date of notice of intention to accept subject to formal ratification procedures. No decision was reached on this point.
10. The Secretariat will be circulating a full list of participants in the Textiles Committee, together with notes indicating whether they had formally accepted the Arrangement or had only indicated provisional acceptance. The texts of formal letters of acceptance would be circulated together with a summary record of the Committee's proceedings. The dete of the next meeting was left open but it seems likely that this will be in Ceteber or November,
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