7 January 1991
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
©
PW Heap Esq CMG
HKD 340/5
TTAY
Senior British Trade Commissioner JAN 1991
British Trade Commission
HONG KONG
London SW1 2AH
faxed 7/1 CT
MOCA
n
Dear Peter,
BRITISH NATIONALITY (HONG KONG) ACT: BRITISH UNDERTAKINGS
HUD 3474 1990)
Thank you for your fax of 27 December 1990, which we have discussed with our Legal Advisers and the DTI.
1.
2. You were right to point out (paragraph 4 of your fax) that for a company to qualify as British on volume of trade with the UK alone would indeed be a departure from the guidelines which your Committee have been following; and that this could have potentially serious implications in terms of opening a "Pandora's box". We would therefore have to give very careful consideration indeed before embarking on such a course (eg if that were necessary in order to ensure the inclusion of Hutchinsons).
3.
Ministers have in fact not decided whether they would like Hutchinsons (and companies like Wharf) to count as British. My assumption has always been that they would on balance prefer this; but views here are far from clear cut. I hope to tackle Lord Caithness again on this issue as soon as possible.
4. In the meantime, you might appreciate the following advice which our Legal Advisers have supplied, in the light of the points made in your fax of 27 December 1990:
"FCO telno 129 provided Mr Heap's Committee with a list of categories of what may be considered, as administrative guidelines, as "a British undertaking". An initial list of categories was essential for a first run-through of possible candidates for acceptance as a British undertaking, but the initial list should not be treated as an exclusive list. If undertakings can establish, to the satisfaction of the Committee, a comparable close connection with the United Kingdom then we must be prepared to extend the list. However, any extension of the list must be made on a similar basis to the present list, that is to say a new category should only be accepted into the list if the relevant criteria are either objective qualifications or, if a
DAWAGT
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL