TNAG-0172-FCO40-208-United-Kingdom-Productivity-and-Efficiency-Study-effect-on-H-1969 — Page 119

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which British accession involved, even though it meant that some volume of cotton textiles from developing countries had to be aámitted duty free under the generalised preference scheme.

18.

Disse be

However, those are contingent difficulties and I take the view that they should not deter us from going ahead with the tariff solution, although in any public announcement I would need to reserve the Government's right to reassess the position in the light of developments on British accession.

Conclusions

14.

I have indicated the great difficulties of a tariff solution; and the balance of advantage from the international standpoint would seca to lie in a continuation of the present quota

system for another three to five years.

This, however, is not

In the next textile recession the

without itp on.. difficulties.

Government will come under severe pressure from the industry to reduce the quotas and increase categorisation, a move which would be Listerly resisted by the supplying countries. Moreover, if the quotas wore to be extended after 1970 a number of countries, e.g. Israel, Spain and Mexico, would claim that the restrictions should not be applied to them. Nonetheless, the maintenance of the status quo would probably be negotiable and would at least avoid the serious problem which would be likely to arise if we deprived the Indians of the privileged position which they enjoy in our market under the present quota arrangements.

20.

However, the balance of advantag. must take into account

domestic considerations as well. As the Boxtile Council have said

in their Report, successive Governments have failed to solve the

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