TNAG-0385-FCO40-431-Trade-relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-the-EEC-1974 — Page 62

HONG KONG-BEC RELATIONS

At the beginning of the abortive 1961/63 negotiations the UK

proposed that Hong Kong should be associated with the enlarged

Community under Part IV of the Treaty of Rome. The Six rejected

this prosal as they did not consider that association was

appropriate for a dependent territory with well developed manufac-

turing industries. By the time the nogotiations had broken down

agreement had merely been reached that the Member States and the

UK would work out, before Britain's entry, "appropriate measures

in the field of trade relations". A more realistic approach was

made in the recent enlargement negotiations when it was decided,

with the approval of the Hong Kong Government, that we should make

strenuous efforts to ensure that the EC included Hong Kong among

the beneficiaries of her Generalised Preference Scheme, even at

the price of some discriminatory limitations of the quantity of

her exports that could benefit. At the same time, we proposed

again that Hong Kong be granted Part IV association.

this latter proposal was rejected.

As expected,

2. Our limited objective of getting the EC to agree to extend

the GSF to Hong Kong was achieved, but a wide range of her exports

(in the textiles and footwear field) were excluded from the scheme

and low duty-free ceilings were placed on a number of her other

key exporta.

3. Our principal objective, now that we are members of the

Community, is to ensure that the benefits Hong Kong derives from

her inclusion in the GSF are improved rather than eroded and that

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