Overseas Trade No.
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CONFIDENTIAL
i Victoria S 'I, LONO, Telegrams: Advantage, Londur Telephone: ABBеy 7877, ext.
W.1
1
9th April, 1969
Thank you for your letter of 26th March which unfortunately arrived after we had seen Tran of the EEC Commission. You will now have seen the letters from Kemais of 28th March on his discussion with Tran and from Hannay of 31st March on Hughes' discussion with the Commission.
2
Our talks with Trai 41% not produce any greater clarity on the difficult pointə gü have raised; the Commission appear to ne looking at a number of alternative arrangements, including Trans proposed scheme with its four hypotheses, and Tran was not very specific on what ea would involve, possibly because he does not fully understand himself what the trade effects of each might be. This is unfortunate since according to Tran ne has been given specific responsibility by di Martine for producing a solution to the Hong Kong problem although hie principal task in the Commission is commodity policy and he seems to have no other connection with tariff prefere.C ́E. His advice when he saw us was that, apart from the fats which he asked that Hughes should make in Brussels, there wed tirg that could usefully be done outside the Commission to help them to find the right solution This does no* necessarily rule out the offer which you propose of a discusei ʼn on an informal basis between you and the Commission and the practical problems for Hong Kong's trade in the scheme tht Tran hus described. You are probably right that the practical difficulties are not fully appreciated in the Commission.
3. The difficulty about this is that Tran has been anxious that the information which he has been giving should be kept strictly confidential and that tre Commission should no know formally that the discussions with us have taken place. He might, however find briefing on the problems very valuable in his own work wit in the Commission.
4. I suggest that you should write to Hannay t beek his views on the possibility of your meeting Tran for this purpose, perhaps enclosing a short note setting out the practical probleme along the lines of your letters to me and to Dorward Hannay cold then discuss the suggestion, if he saw no objection, with Tran and advise you whether a meeting would be appropriate at all at stage and whether it should be with Tran alone or more formally with him and other officials of the Commission.
D. J. C. Jones, Esq.,
Counsellor (Hong Kong Affairs):
United Kingdom Mission,
35-37, Rue de Vermont, 1202, Geneva.
(R. Goldsmith)
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