XN000022-1973-12-11 — Page 7

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Tuesday, December 11, 1973

He welcomed the recent decision by the Japanese authorities to

reduce the Hong Kong exceptions list to their generalised preferences from

96 items to 12, but expressed concern over the exclusion in 1974 of Hong

Kong's textile and footwear from the EEC's preference scheme.

"Since our textiles are already heavily restricted to that market

by quotas, and since our footwear industry is relatively small and not

particularly competitive by world standards, we can see absolutely no

justification for this discriminatory treatment by the Community," he said.

Sir Murray noted, however, that the British Government had given

notice to the Community of its intention to seek cancellation of these

exclusions in 1975.

The Hong Kong Government was also participating in the negotiations

in Geneva of a new multilateral arrangement for textiles of all fibres,

and Hong Kong's knowledge and expertise in this complex field "ensures that

the views of our representatives are listened to with respect," he added.

Note to Editors:

Copies of the full text of the Governor's

speech are distributed separately as a supplement

to today's D.I.B.

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