TNAG-0462-FCO40-527-Entitlement-of-Hong-Kong-to-EEC-Generalised-Scheme-of-Prefer-1974 — Page 86

DRAFT PASSAGE FOR INCLUSION IN FCO'S REPLY TO HONG KONG TELEGRAM NO 128 OF JANUARY 31

In your telegram 128 of January 31 you asked for comment on the suggestion in a Financial Times article of 15 January on GSP textile quotas that for some sensitive non-cotton items the duty free quotas are one and a half times Britain's actual

For all the imports in 1972. This allegation is incorrect.

R 3504/73 sensitive non-cotton items in 3925173/peers, our actual

imports in 1972 far exceed our GSP quota.

were about one per cent of trade.

In aggregate, quotas

Detailed figures (not

available at present for carpets, twine and ope) are attached.

The situation is similar for non-textile items in R3504:

CCT

Heading

1972 Imports

UK Quota

Ratio of GSP Imports to Quota (approx)

£'000

64.01 Rubber and plastic

footwear

4,421

195

1:22

64.02

Footwear with leather

uppers; other foot-

wear

10,895

2,489

1:4.3