TNAG-0302-FCO40-338-Effects-of-tariffs-on-imports-of-cotton-textiles-to-UK-from--1971 — Page 137

33. This system

which would not require the prior consent of the

Cdeveloping countries

is not strictly in conformity with the Long

Term Arrangement, in that it is a global rather than a bilateral

control but it is no more than an extension of the partial global

system we have operated for the last six years.

Conclusions

wide.

34. It was suggested at the Secretary of State's maeting on 28 October,

that any import policies proposed for 1972 should be designed to keep

us in line with EEC practices. A broad outline of the present EEC system

is set out in Annex A. Because it is a combination of Community

agreements with a handful of countries supplemented by individual

EEC countries with a variety of controls on other developing suppliers,

it would not be practicable for the UK to use these arrangements as a

precise model. Nor indeed is it clear that the list of Community

agreements will not have been extended considerably by the time of

CU

our entry into the Common Market.

35. If, as we think we must, we decide that it would be impracticable

to continue the present quota arrangements for a further year, we have

to consider whether either a monitoring system or a global ceiling on

licences would provide a step in the right direction in moving onto the

EEC's pattern in 1973. Our conclusion is that neither would involve

"counter-marching"; of the two, the Commission would almost certainly

prefer the global arrangement, which would at least ensure that the UK's

existing high import intake is not further increased in the pèriod

immediately preceding our entry (the period which would form the basis

for negotiating new restraint agreements for an enlarged Community).

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