0003230
G.F. 323
CONFIDENTIAL
142.
- 27
Fifth Session (Plenary) 2 p.m., Wednesday, 29th April 1970
Baron de Geer said that the Swedish textile industry was suffering damage from increasing quantities of imports and that the plight of the industry was considered by his Government to be very serious. It had been Swedish Government policy so far to assist its industry by seeking restraint agreements with exporting countries, but only after it had been proved that the industry in question had suffered material injury from imports. This policy had proved ineffectual, however, because there had been no decline in imports to the benefit of the Swedish industry, the condition of which was going from bad to worse. Consequently, there had been several governmental meetings to decide on a future policy to resolve this problem and at two of these meetings the Swedish Prime Minister had taken the chair. This was most unusual since the Prime Minister did not normally concern himself with purely trade matters. The outcome of these meetings was that Sweden had decided it would be necessary for strategic defence purposes to take pro- tective measures before an industry was damaged. In effect, this would be when it appeared to the Swedish Government that the industry in question was threatened with material injury from an increasing volume of imports. The provisions of Article XIX of the G.A.T.T. would then be used to regulate trade from those countries (and only those countries) which were threatening to cause damage.
143.
Mr. Ho challenged this statement, saying Article XIX provided that corrective measures to prevent serious injury must be applied, without dis- crimination, to all foreign suppliers. Baron de Geer said that Sweden shared the views of several of the developing countries who felt that it was unfair to apply the provisions of Article XIX on a non-discriminatory basis because this meant that all foreign suppliers were penalised and not merely those causing the injury. He also said that H.M.G. shared this view in 1960 and had stated it in the G.A.T.T. Committee on Market Disruption at that time.
144.
By way of illustration of the Swedish view, he said that following a breakdown in negotiations the Swedish authorities had invoked Article XIX of G.A.T.T. and, with effect from 29th April, subjected twelve textile items from Yugoslavia to import licensing control; of these twelve the following three would have import quota limits ·
(a)
towels and bed linen
(b)
socks
(c)
rugs and blankets
145.
Mr. Ho noted these remarks with regret and asked Baron de Geer to specify his Government's aims and intentions with regard to imports from
Baron de Geer replied that they were as follows:-
Hong Kong.
/Cotton Items...
CONFIDENTIAL
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