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LEN
Monday, September 10, 1973
"USEFUL" TRADE TALKS IN HONG KONG
Sir Christopher Scanes, Commissioner of the European Economic
Community, had "useful talks" with government officials and members of the Executive and Legislative Councils before flying to Tokyo today (Monday)
for the GATT Ministerial meeting.
Sir Christopher told a press conference before leaving after a
three-day stay: "Hong Kong is an important trading entity, and also an
important beneficiary under the Community's generalised preference scheme.
"In view of the Community's responsibility in the trade policy
field it was useful therefore to have some understanding on Hong Kong's
views on a number of matters,"
Asked why Hong Kong textiles and footwear were excluded from the
generalized preference scheme, Sir Christopher said this had been part of the
agreement when Britain joined the EEC.
When it was pointed out that South Korea enjoyed preference for
ito textiles and footwear, he replied that "a lot of Hong Kong textiles
already go into the U.K." and also Hong Kong was number two of the many
countries benofitting from the scheme.
He said the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) ministerial
meeting in Tokyo was to set the guidelines for further liberalisation of
trade among industrialised and developing countries.
The Tokyo talks, starting on Wednesday, will be just a preliminary,
and the actual negotiations could last at least three years.
Note to Editors:
A picture of Sir Christopher addressing the pross conference at Kaitak will be boxed this evening.
(This item is not included in the Chinese D.I.B.)
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