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Date
215 6119
14 January 1993
Dem
Sue,
MONTREAL PROTOCOL: TREATMENT OF TAIWAN
We spoke earlier today about the options contained in Mrs Leslie's minute of 2 December 1992, concerning the treatment of Taiwan in respect of the trade policy provisions of the Protocol. In that minute, she set out the two options we face: option (a) would permit continued trade with Taiwan on the basis that Taiwan is not a State and therefore cannot be a state not party to the Protocol; option (b) would lead to a ban on the relevant trade, on the basis that if Taiwan was not a State party to the Protocol, it must then be subject to the relevant trade bans.
UK Interests
Mrs Leslie rightly begins with an analysis of UK objectives, with which I wholly agree. I would note that, more broadly, these objectives should be seen in the context of our wider interests in this field, which I would suggest are to move towards the achievement of our environmental policy goals with minimum disruption to the multilateral trading system, and minimum disruption to our commercial interests.
On this basis, it seems to me that Mrs Leslie is right: option (a) is the only realistic approach we have open to us, for the reasons she outlines in respect of Hong Kong. To ban trade might also impair UK commercial interests without necessarily furthering our environmental goals (and in any case probably not in a way which could be characterised as proportionate). In contrast, following the option (a) approach would preserve our commercial interests, while allowing us to keep up the pressure on Taiwan over its CFC policies, and meeting the Hong Kong concerns.
Taiwan and GATT
While these issues arose in the context of the position of
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