TNAG-0300-FCO40-336-Entitlement-of-Hong-Kong-to-generalized-tariffs-preferences--1971 — Page 205

-3-

Rumania's and Bulgaria's claims are based on equality of treatment

with other countries at a comparable stage of development; that

is they are not claiming that they are as deserving as Africa or

Asia. The remaining four countries are not members of any grouping

in UNCTAD. Also listed are the dependent territories for which a

similar claim has been made by their protecting power. Annex B

summarises the trade from each of the main groups of developing

countries for the same categories of goods covered in Annex A.

The United Kingdom's Position

7

We have always pursued two main objectives:

(i)

the adoption by all the donors of broadly similar lists

of beneficiaries;

(ii)

the inclusion by the others of Portugal and Hong Kong,

to which we already give duty free entry.

:

8

As regards (i), we have emphasised that the question of beneficiar-

ies cannot be separated from the concept of burden-sharing, which

all the donors have endorsed. We have always supported the

recommendations of the Report of the Croup of Four senior officials

on trade with developing countries (in which we took a leading part)

that there was no citerion of economic development which would be

both an

objective test and politically acceptable to all the

countries concerned, and that therefore the most equitable and least

unsatisfactory solution should be the "self-election" of beneficiaries.

36.