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* M. Hanna, Akia)
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"When pa. 26/1
Miss K M Tait CRE
Dept of Trade
Victoria St
Your reference
Our reference
Date 25 November 1974
Dear Kate,
GSP
TRAN'S VISIT TO LONDON
1. As I told you on the telephone this morning Tran now proposes to visit London on Friday 6 December.
I
Ho ill be available in the morning only as he plans to fly to Dublin in the afternoon. understand that Roy Denman may be giving hin lunch.
2. The main topic which Tran wishes to discuss is Hong Kong and in particular the possibility of sone move on textiles for next year. I said we world be interested to hear more about the ideas he develosed in Tondon some ronths ago about a link between the textiles negotiations and the grant of CSP. Tran said that there is strong opposition both from Ferber States and within the Commission to a move on textiles. However the revision proposed for 1976 in the Community's schone for textiles to take account of the bilateral agrecnents under the multi-fibre arrangement does provide an obvious opportunity for eliminating discrimination against Hong Kong. I hope we shall be able to give Tran a firm line taking account of our own textile interests.
3. I told Tran we would also want to talk about the review of strategy for GSP promised for the New Year. I mentioned our wish. to eliminate restrictions for the least developed and Tran was sympathetic to the ide of doing something special for thesd countries. We also cocussed the polen of erosion of tariff quotas expressc in vlue as a mos it of inflation.
res
Fran said that the solution of putting quosas on a volume basis was not practicable for many of the existing quotas eg Christmas trde Pecorations from Mon: · one.
1 he had himself been tikking in terms of rore rapid up-lacing of blase sunbistice an? the aqlution might be to spree that the most recent statistics should be jusod. However the problem as to obtain those statistics in time. This had not been possible in the past.
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