TNAG-0521-FCO40-616-Visit-of-Lord-Goronwy-Roberts--Parliamentary-Under-Secretary-1975 — Page 94

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Butler

PS/Lord Goronwy-Roberts

PS/Mr Hattersley

KNITWEAR IMPORTS

PROBLEM

1. Whether FCO Ministers should support the line on the introduc-

tion of restraints on UK imports of knitwear, as proposed by. Mr Benn in his letter of 13 December and as broadly agreed, though with some

qualifications, by Mr Shore in his letter of 23 December.

BACKGROUND/ARGUMENT

2. The GATT Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) concluded at the end of

1973 controls international trade in textiles. The Community as such is a contracting party to the Arrangement, the individual DC member

have to be phased out or replaced by new restraints states are not. Under the terms of the MFA, existing restraints, which satisfy certain oriteria, mainly actual or threatened market disruption,

specified in the MFA. Restraints can be negotiated bilaterally or in certain cases imposed by the importing party. New restraint arrange-

ments should be concluded by 31 March 1975.

3. The Community has for some time been trying to agree to a mandato to open negotiations on textiles with Hong Kong, and Korea and to enable unilateral measures to be taken against Taiwan. This has been held up largely on account of difficulties over mitwear products. Host other member states have long restrained knitwear imports from these countries but although the UK takes a large proportion of EEC knitwear imports ve currently have restraints only against Japan and Eastern Europe. have resisted going along with Community-wide restraints on knitwear on the grounds that the case for such restraints in terms of market disruption, both in the UK and in the Community as a whole, was weak.

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