A
86
A
PS/Mr Jadd
Private Secretary
105
CONFIDENTIAL
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY 15. 12
- 5 APR,1977
ANE BL3
"TH
61√
would certainly be unformats
become isolake
・had liners.
of such significan
for the That World. I this his
1
support.
Submissing indtrestes a possible ng to avoid this.
وه
MULTI-FIBRE ARRANGEMENT (MFS
PROBLEM
2713.
1. Mr Varley wrote to the Secretary of State on 21 March expressing his concern about the domestic consequences if the Government were seen to weaken in its insistence on a satisfactory solution to the problem of cumulative disruption. Mr Varley concluded that we have no alternative but to stick to our existing
line in Brussels. The Secretary of State has commented on Mr Varley's letter as follows:
"I agree with Mr Varley. We should make representations to the Commission and ask them to think again, in line with the Council's clear cut guidance. My inclination
is to refuse to put it back on the agenda for 5 April without a revised Commission proposal?"
BACKGROUND
The situation in the British Textile Industry
2. [The difficulties of the industry are well summarized in the Department of Industry paper attached to Mr Varley's letter of 21 March. The major problem for the industry since the present MFA was signed in 1973, has become the rapid emergence of new supplying countries for certain sensitive textile products. These have captured a significant share of a UK market already hit by imports from the dominant suppliers such as Hong Kong. The present MFA, as operated by the Community, has not permitted effective action against the new suppliers. We have had to wait until they have become a serious threat before we obtained the initiation of a cumbersome procedure which took account only of imports from a particular country, with no regard for the overall situation in the market for a sensitive product.
3. The dominant suppliers are already effectively under control in the UK through quotas established under the existing MFA.
CONFIDENTIAL
/What