GENERALIZED PREFERENCES AND HONG KONG
125/€
Mr. Jordan, Deputy Director of Commerce and Industry, Hong Kong and Mr. Sellers of the Hong Kong Government Office called on Wednesday, 15 October, to discuss Hong Kong's position
in relation to recent developments on UNCTAD preferences. were seen by Mr. Britten and myself.
2.
Discussion centred on the following points :
(i)
They
We asked whether the formula Mr. Jones put to Tran of EEC in September (his letter of 22 September) represented
an acceptable solution in the event that special arrange-
ments would have to be made in order to obtain Hong Kong's
inclusion in the scheme. Mr. Jordan said that Mr. Jones'
letter had not been fully studied when he left Hong Kong.
It was not the sort of solution that Hong Kong would wish to go for as a starting position and it could not be
regarded as an official proposition. But the
provisional view which had been formed in Hong Kong
before he left was that this was a matter on which the
Hong Kong Government would have to rely very much on the
advice of the people on the spot. He did not demur when it was suggested that the Jones formula might, however, be generally regarded in EEC as indicating the position that Hong Kong would eventually accept. Mr. Jordan emphasised (as we already knew) that Hong Kong could not and would not object to the application of stringent
safeguard procedures, provided these were applied on a
non-discriminatory basis.
(ii) Tactics in handling the issue of beneficiaries.
Mr. Jordan felt that there was no alternative but to
leave tactics and timing to those who are handling the issue on the spot (Messrs. Jones, Kemmis and Goldsmith). It was agreed that a determined effort should be made (on our initiative, if necessary) to get the question of
beneficiaries settled in OECD and to avoid it becoming
a matter for argument and bargaining in UNCTAD, where
adverse attitudes by other developing countries to
/ Hong Kong's
...
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