TNAG-0462-FCO40-527-Entitlement-of-Hong-Kong-to-EEC-Generalised-Scheme-of-Prefer-1974 — Page 111

Mr. Stuart (12

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE SW 1

21 January 1974

2.1

6.

R Goldsmith Esq UKREP EEC BRUSSELS

LEAT

Dear Bob,

:

ি

1K16/3 196 1973)

GENERALISED SCHEME OF PREFERENCES:

HONG KONG

n.

По Стоторой Goodfellow

Dos

PA

22% HKK 6/5985/1

22/1

23

You will have seen my letter of 21 December 1973 to Jordan about the possibility of beginning the 1974 Review of the Community's Generalised Scheme of Preferences rather earlier than usual: the object being to try to reach final decisions on the GSP for 1975 some time well before the end of the year. Although I am not very optimistic about the prospects of success I think that the idea is worth pursuing; but, as I said in my letter to Jordan, it seems to me that in order to increase the chances of agreement on a proposal of this kind our best tactic would be to try to encourage the Commission itself to put this to the Member States. Some of our partners might well suspect our motives if we ourselves were to propose the idea, although I do not exclude the possibility of our doing so in the event of the Commission being unwilling to make an appropriate proposal.

2. Provided you see no objection, I should be grateful if you could take a fairly early opportunity to discuss this question with Christopher Soames or his cabinet. I suggest that the following are the main points to get across:-

(a) during the last month or so of the year the Community is

invariably faced with the need to take important decisions on a wide range of differing issues. For most matters this state of affairs is probably unavoidable, but it does seem as though the Community's Generalised Scheme of Preferences is one field where it ought to be possible, as well as desirable, to reach final decisions some time before. the end of the year;

(6)

(c)

earlier decisions on GSP would be welcomed by importers and exporters alike. It is desirable that decisions affecting patterns of trade for a given year should be taken as well in advance as possible; many orders have to be placed months ahead and it is most inconvenient to importers and exporters if they do not know what the duty position is to be until virtually the end of the preceding year;

if there is to be a reasonable chance of getting the appropriate decisions taken well before the end of the year it will be necessary to begin the Review sufficiently early. It would therefore be useful if this year's GSP Review could start around early spring.

/(a) we think