CONFIDENTIAL
BRITISH EMBASSY
COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT
No. I Ichiban-cho, Chiyoda-ku, TOKYO, Japan
Telephone: 265-5511
6/1
R G Britten Esq
Trade Policy Department
Foreign & Commonwealth Office London SW1
19 February 1971
Hi lezeval W 2412
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Dear
Rac,
GENERALISED PREFERENCES
10 Thank you for your letter (MTU 15/1) of 10 February with which you enclosed your Aide Memoire on dependent territories together with mater- ial to meet the Japanese request for documentary evidence about the dependent territories. We handed over this material to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday, after amending Annex 1 of this Aide Memoire in accordance with your telegram No 89 of 15 February, and explained at some length how the documents dealt with the points set out in the Aide Memoire. We emphasised in particular that several of the dependent territories are members of UN specialised agencies or regional bodies. The official to whom we spoke replied, without prompting, that he was quite hopeful about the chances of securing the inclusion of dependent territories in the Japanese scheme and that this problem should not now give the Japanese Government much trouble. He stressed, however, that the Japanese had to find some principle upon which they could base their decision whether to include or to exclude the various dependent terri- tories, but that this distinction looked like being based on whether or not the territories in question controlled their own customs, trade, budgets and financial reserves.
20
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We also took the opportunity to revert to the question of Hong Kong. We were told that discussions were continuing within the Japanese Government, but that no decision had yet been reached on the list of items for which Hong Kong would be excluded. To this extent, it was difficult at this stage to say when a visit by Hong Kong officials might be useful. The generalised preferences legislation had still not been placed before the Diet but was likely to be submitted shortly. This would, of course, not refer in detail either to beneficiaries or to particular excluded, items and he anticipated that the final decisions on these points would probably be taken in about May or June.
CONFIDENTIAL
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Reg. (1) Enter MTU išli
(2) Cpy & UK +90s fill (3) Cify to HKD ELD
Every effort is made to ensure that the Information given herein is accurate, but no legal responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions to that information and no responsibility is accepted in regard to the standing of any frma, companies or individuais mentioned,
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