TNAG-0300-FCO40-336-Entitlement-of-Hong-Kong-to-generalized-tariffs-preferences--1971 — Page 154

GPS.

PRIORITY

CYPHER/CAT A

AND BY BAG

FM F C 0 161815Z

CONFIDENTIAL

NEUTRAL

CONFIDENTIAT RECOVED IN

REGISTRY No. 51

216

19 JUL 971

(TPD)

Акко

TO PRIORITY ACCRA TELNO 377 OF 16 JULY AND TO CERTAIN OTHER POSTS INFO OTTAWA, WASHINGTON, TOKYO, UKDEL EEC, UKMIS GENEVA, UKDEL OECD INFO SAVING STOCKHOLM, COPENHAGEN, HELSINKI, OSLO, BERNE, DUBLIN AND VIENNA,

UK GENERALISED PREFERENCE SCHEME (GPS)

1.

AN ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR OFFER UNDER THE UNCTAD GPS WILL BE GIVEN IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON 26 JULY IN A WRITTEN ANSWER ON THE FOLLOWING LINES:-

QUOTE I INTEND TO LAY LATER THIS YEAR AN ORDER AND REGULATIONS UNDER THE IMPORT DUTIES ACT 1958, WHEN IT IS AMENDED BY THE FINANCE ACT, TO BRING THE NEW ARRANGEMENTS INTO EFFECT FROM 1 JANUARY 1972. THEY WILL BE BROADLY THE SAME AS THE OFFER SUBMITTED TO UNCTAD LAST YEAR AND FULL DETAILS WILL BE PUBLISHED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THE BENEFICIARIES OF OUR SCHEME WILL BE THE COUNTRIES IN THE SO CALLED QUOTE GROUP OF 77 UNQUOTE IN UNCTAD AND DEPENDENT TERRITORIES THAT ARE THE PRESENT BENEFICIARIES OF THE EEC SCHEME AS WELL AS DEVELOPING COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES NOT MEMBERS OF THIS GROUP. UNQUOTE

2.

THIS IS OF CONSIDERABLE INTEREST TO THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH, WHO WE HOPE WILL WELCOME OUR PROPOSALS TO PUT INTO EFFECT A SCHEME ENDORSED BY UNCTAD AND ADOPTED BY THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NOTWITHSTANDING THAT FROM 1 JANUARY 1972 THEY WILL AS A RESULT BE SHARING MUCH OF THEIR PREFERENTIAL ACCESS TO THE UK MARKET WITH THE OTHER BENEFICIARIES OF THE UK GPS. BECAUSE OF THIS SPECIAL CONSIDERATION, WE HAVE TRIED THROUGHOUT TO KEEP THESE COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES INFORMED IN ADVANCE OF ALL MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE GPS SPHERE.

3. PLEASE THEREFORE CONVEY THE INFORMATION IN PARA 1 ABOVE TO THE GOVERNMENT TO WHICH YOU ARE ACCREDITED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, AND PREFERABLY ON 19 JULY, EMPHASISING THAT THE INFORMATION SHOULD BE REGARDED AS CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL THE PARLIAMENTARY ANNOUNCEMENT ON 26 JULY.

CONFIDENTIAL

14.

A