§ 10. Mr. GRAHAM WHITEasked the President of the Board of Trade if any negotiations have taken place with the Governments of Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg with regard to the tariff convention which they concluded in July last; and, if so, with what result?
§ Lieut.-Colonel COLVILLECommunications have passed between His Majesty's Government and the Governments mentioned on this subject. His Majesty's Government have indicated that, while appreciating the effort to bring about tariff reductions, they were unable to accept the invitation to become a party to the Convention since their treaty obligations prevented them from assuming an obligation to apply discriminatory tariff treatment to the goods of countries which remained outside the Convention and did not observe its terms, and that, having regard to the provisions of the Treaties between the United Kingdom and the two countries, they could not contemplate a situation in which Dutch goods in Belgium or Belgian goods in the Netherlands were accorded privileges denied to United Kingdom goods.