:
THE PROPOSED PROCEDURE
-
15. ACCORDINGLY, IT WOULD APPEAR TO BE SIMPLEST AND SAFEST TO ADOPT
OPTION 3 AND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THIS WILL REQUIRE AN EARLY
RECOMMENDATION TO THE FCO FOR SUBMISSION TO MINISTERS FOR THE
FOLLOWING PROCEDURE (DERIVED FROM THE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE GATT
SECRETARIAT REFERRED TO ABOVE) TO BE ADOPTED :
(A) A DECLARATION BY HMG UNDER ARTICLE XXVI 5(C) OF THE GATT
STATING THAT HONG KONG POSSESSES FULL AUTONOMY IN THE CONDUCT
OF ITS EXTERNAL COMMERCIAL RELATIONS ETC AND SHOULD BE DEEMED
TO BE A FULLY CONTRACTING PARTY : (HONG KONG THEN ACHIEVES
UNDERLINE NEXT TWO WORDS DE FACTO CONTRACTING PARTY STATUS)
SEMICOLON
(2) A STATEMENT FROM HONG KONG TO THE GATT SAYING IT WISHED TO
BECOME A UNDERLINE NEXT TWO WORDS DE JURE CONTRACTING PARTY
SEMICOLON AND
(C) A STATEMENT FROM CHINA TO THE GATT REFERRING TO BOTH (A)
AND (B) ABOVE, TOGETHER WITH THE JOINT DECLARATION CONFIRMING
THAT HONG KONG SAR WOULD CONTINUE TO EXERCISE AUTONOMY IN ITS EXTERNAL COMMERCIAL RELATIONS AFTER 1997. THIS DECLARATION
SHOULD UNDERLINE NEXT WORD NOT REFER TO ANY PARTICULAR GATT
ARTICLE.
DRAFT TEXTS OF THESE THREE TYPES OF DECLARATION REFERRED TO IN THIS
PARAGRAPH ARE AT ANNEX A. (NOT ATTACHED).
16. THE CHINESE DECLARATION, ALTHOUGH LEGALLY NOT STRICTLY NECESSARY, WOULD UNDERLINE NEXT TWO WORDS INTER ALIA HELP TO SETTLE ANY DOUBTS FROM OTHER CONTRACTING PARTIES AND REDUCE THE POSSIBILITY
FOR CHINESE BACK-SLIDING IN THE FUTURE. IT COULD BE CONFIRMED BY
CHINA IN 1997 - BUT THIS WOULD NOT BE ESSENTIAL. THIS SUGGESTED
DECLARATION COULD BE PRESENTED TO THE CHINESE AS A RE-AFFIRMATION
OF SECTION VI OF ANNEX I TO THE JOINT DECLARATION.
HONG KONG'S PARTICIPATION IN THE CCC
17. HONG KONG CURRENTLY ATTENDS MEETINGS OF THE CCC AS PART OF THE
UK DELEGATION. THE UK IS A MEMBER OF THE CCC, SO IS CHINA.
18. MEMBERSHIP OF THE CCC IS OPEN TO ANY SEPARATE CUSTOMS
TERRITORY WHICH IS PROPOSED BY A CONTRACTING PARTY HAVING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE NORMAL CONDUCT OF ITS DIPLIMATIC RELATIONS,
WHICH IS AUTONOMOUS IN THE CONDUCT OF ITS EXTERNAL COMMERCIAL
RELATIONS AND WHOSE ADMISSION AS A SEPARATE MEMBER IS APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL. ACCORDINGLY, HONG KONG'S POSITION IN CCC IS ANALOGOUS TO THAT IN GATT, EXCEPT THAT EVEN WITH A DECLARATION BY HMG THAT HONG KONG POSSESSED FULL AUTONOMY IN THE CONDUCT OF ITS EXTERNAL
5
CONFIDENTAL
/COMMERCIAL