TNAG-0342-FCO40-378-Effects-on-Hong-Kong-of-long-term-policy-for-textiles-in-int-1972 — Page 101

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is a Custom's territory within the definition in

Article XXIV (2) of the General Agreement, and it is a

Custom's territory in respect of which the UK has

acceded to the General Agreement under Article XXVI:5(a)

Thus Hong Kong, "exclusively for the purposes of the

territorial application of the General Agreement," is

"treated as though it were a contracting party;

Frovided that the provisions of this paragraph shall not

be construed to create any rights or obligations as

between two or more customs territories in respect of

which this Agreement has been accepted under Article

XXVI or is being applied under Article XXXIII or

pursuant to the Frotocol of Provisional Application by a

single contracting party". (Article XXIV:1).

Lif

The effect of this provision is that the United

Kingdom has two distinct bundles of rights and

obligations vis à vis other contracting parties:

those in respect of the United Kingdom metropolitan

customs territory, and those in respect of the Hong

Kong customs territory. Hong Kong can have no rights and

obligations under international law, since it has no

international personality. The United Kingdom's rights

and obligations under the General Agreement in respect

of the Hong Kong customs territory will be unaffected

by the United Kingdom's accession to the European

Communities. Accession to the General Agreement is

governed by Article XXXIII which refers only to

governments. It is unlikely that the notion of govern-

ment would be interpreted to include the EEC (or for

that/...