TNAG-0238-FCO40-274-Trade-relations-between-EEC-and-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 176

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G.F. 323

CONFIDENTIAL

Record of the Hong Kong/E.E.C. Cotton Textiles Consultations in Geneva on

29th and 30th July, 1970

E.E.C. Team:

Mr. W. Ernst

Mr. R. Ravenna

Mr. M. Lehembre

Director, External Trade Directorate.

Administrative Principal, External Trade Directorate.

Administrative Principal, Industrial Directorate.

Hong Kong Team:

Mr. W. Dorward

Mr. D.J.C. Jones

Deputy Director of Commerce & Industry (Commercial Relations).

Counsellor for Hong Kong Affairs, U.K. Mission, Geneva.

Commerce and Industry Department

Mr. F. Yeung

Mr. L.M. Souza

Commerce and Industry Department

First Session: 10.45 a.m., Wednesday,

29th July. 1970

Following an exchange of courtesies, Ernst immediately suggested that both sides could start to discuss the wording of an agreement on the basis of the draft and the annexes which he had produced three weeks previously to Mr. Dodge in Brussels. To supplement this draft agreement he was prepared to make specific. offers on overall limits and specific category limits.

2.

Dorward replied that the presence of his delegation at the discussions was a reflection of the Hong Kong Government's willingness to meet the Community's wishes for negotiations with a view to reaching an agreement not inconsistent with the objectives of the Cotton Textiles Arrangement; and having regard to Article 4 of that Arrangement. He was, however, forced to stress again, as he had done on previous occasions in Brussels, the great importance which the Hong Kong Government attached to the principles and provisions of the Cotton Textiles Arrangement. Hong Kong's recent attitude in this regard might have seemed unduly doctrinaire but it was necessary to understand that Hong Kong was motivated in its attitude not by a penchant for petty legalism but by the continuing need to protect what were literally the vital interests of its economy.

3.

Dorward continued that Hong Kong was dependent to a greater degree than any other trading community in the world on its textile industry. The products of this industry represented roughly half of domestic exports; and these exports represented the principal source of wealth for the economy. This was not the case

CONFIDENTIAL

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