TNAG-0613-FCO40-761-Visits-of-Governor-of-Hong-Kong-to-UK-1977 — Page 44

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Notes of a Meeting held with Sir Leo Pliatzky at the Department of Trade 23 November 1977 at 11 15 a.m.

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Present:

Sir Leo Pliatzky

Sir Murray MacLehose

Mr D C Bray

Mr D Hellings

Miss A McFarlane

Mr Philip Dring

Miss A Brimelow

TEXTILE NEGOTIATIONS

Sir Leo Pliatzsky (LP) said he

found the UK in a very curious position as being responsible

for its own interests as wel1 as those of Hong Kong.

Sir Murray MacLehose (MM) said the UK position had been very much determined by its membership of EEC and as architect of the textile restrictions scheme now being advocated by EEC.

LP said he was perturbed about the proposal for the re-

allocation of quota. He had spoken to D'avignon and he was doing what he could to retrieve the

to retrieve the situation. Hong

Kong must do its best too. If there was no agreement it

would be a disaster - a nightmare.

And if Brazil were to

sign up,

this would make matters even worse. MM said that

we had taken this on board but Hong Kong was a small place

and its only defence lay in the orderly observance of

treaties by countries that had signed them. This included

the MFA and the July Geneva Agreements.

LP said the British Government was partly to blame. But

Hong Kong must sign up. Mr. Hellings said that any agreement

would be better than the anarchy that would follow no agreement.

LP said that Hong Kong really must sign up.

MM said that Hong Kong had not discounted the dangers of a

break but it must be understood that the terms of an agree-

ment could be so bad that Hong Kong's other trading partners

especially America would follow suit. The consequential suppressions of trade might be

SO severe that the imposition

of autonomous controls by EEC

-

alone would be the lesser of

.../.