CONFIDENTIAL.
056155
MDLOAN 8601
BASIS FOR YOUR OWN AGREEMENT WITH THE US.
5.
ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DRUGS AGREEMENTS AND EVENTUAL MLA ARRANGEMENTS, YOU WILL KNOW THAT OUR AGREEMENT WITH THE US WILL LAPSE ON THE COMPLETION OF A FULL MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE TREATY (MLAT) WE HELD AN INITIAL ROUND OF TALKS ON A MLAT WITH AN AMERICAN TEAM ON 10-11 APRIL AND HOPE TO COMPLETE NEGOTIATIONS OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS.
·
6. WE UNDERSTAND YOUR WISH TO AVOID CONSULTING THE CHINESE AT THIS STAGE AND AGREE THAT A TIME LIMITED AGREEMENT THAT HAS A PROVISION FOR EXTENSION IS A SENSIBLE OPTION. MUCH DEPENDS, HOWEVER, ON YOUR OWN PLANS FOR NEW PRIMARY LEGISLATION ALLOWING WIDER BASED MLA POWERS AND THE TIMETABLE YOU HAVE IN MIND FOR INTRODUCING THAT LEGISLATION (PARA 2 OF OUR TELNO 657 REFERS) AS YOU ARE AWARE WE BELIEVE THAT IT WOULD BE WISE TO RAISE THE GENERAL ISSUE OF MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE AGREEMENTS WITH THE CHINESE AT A RELATIVELY EARLY STAGE (PARA 3 OF OUR TELNO 657).
HOWE
YYYY
ΜΑΙΝ
63
LIMITED
ERD
HKD
FED
PUSD
LEGAL ADVISERS
ADDITIONAL
1
MR VALLANCE, C4 HOME OFFICE
NNNN
DISTRIBUTION
64
NCAD
PS/MR EGGAR PS/PUS
MR SLATER MR GILLMORE MR MCLAREN
2
PAGE CONFIDENTIAL