TNAG-0629-FCO40-777-Effect-of-GATT-Multi-Fibre-Arrangement-on-Hong-Kong-negotiat-1988 — Page 207

CONFIDENTIAL

Senior British Trade, Commiss Foxter

D N March Esq OBE

HONG KONG

REVI

Augusฯ

5 AUG 1977

(110

HKK 12

146

141

HONG KONG: BRIEFING ON THE MULTI-FIBRE ARRANGEMENT (MFA)

1.

In my letter to Christopher Roberts of 21 July, copied to you, I undertook to let you have copies of telegrams on the MFA by bag, together with some background material. I now enclose copies of:

2.

(a) the text of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement of December 1973;

(b) the EEC/Hong Kong bilateral Textiles Agreement of

August 1975, concluded within the framework (a);

(c) Hong Kong Department of Commerce & Industry's position

paper on the future of the MFA, a copy of which was given to me when I was in Hong Kong in March;

(d) ExCo memorandum on the future of the MFA;

(e) the Community's "mandate" on the MFA in the form of

Council Notes of 17 June and 5 July 1977;

(f) correspondence this year between the Governor and

Donald Murray on the MFA;

(g) a batch of telegrams from 8 July onwards dealing with

the MFA and related subjects;

(h)

extract from Hansard, 21 February 1977, when Mr Meacher spoke on the MFA.

I hope that these papers and the following notes will help to put you fully in the picture. We shall try to ensure that important telegrams and letters are copied to you in future.

Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA)

3. The MFA was concluded under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1974, It is due to expire at the end of 1977. The EEC concluded bilateral agreements with all the major textile producers, including Hong Kong, who also has bilateral arrangements with the US, Sweden, Norway, Austria and Finland.

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