§ Mr. Cooperasked the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken to consult industry in connection with the negotiations which it is intended to hold next year under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
§ Mr. WilsonThe Contracting Parties at their second session at Geneva this year decided that a further round of negotiations should be held at Geneva next April to afford an opportunity to certain additional countries to adhere to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, namely, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Finland, Greece, Haiti, Italy, Nicaragua, Peru, Sweden and Uruguay, and to enable certain negotiations left unfinished last year to be completed. In preparation for these negotiations I am consulting the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of British Industries, the National Union of Manufacturers, the Co-operative Congress Parliamentary Committee and the Trades Union Congress. Specimens of the letters which have been sent to these representative bodies are being placed in the Library of the House. My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries will similarly arrange to obtain the views of the various organisations representing the farming and fishing industries in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The appropriate Government Departments will also seek such advice as they consider would be helpful from organisations representing industries with which they are concerned (such as the food industries) and from other interested organisations. Any organisation will equally be at liberty, of course, to submit its views to His Majesty's Government.
The Joint Consultative Committee for Industry which was set up during the similar Geneva negotiations in 1947, is still in being and will be available for oral discussions as necessary.
§ Mr. Cooperasked the President of the Board of Trade if he is in a position to make a statement about the agreements 2W drawn up at the second session of the Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
§ Mr. H. WilsonI have made available to the House the Protocols in question and certain other decisions and resolutions of importance adopted by the Contracting Parties at their second session. These are contained in Command No. 7544. The introduction to the Command Paper explains the effect of these Protocols, which are four in number. For the convenience of the House I may say that the first two modify the G.A.T.T. so as to bring some of its main provisions into line with those of the Havana Charter for an International Trade Organisation. Pending the entry into force of the Charter, the Contracting Parties undertake, under the Protocol modifying Part I of the Agreement, to observe the general principles of the Charter to the fullest extent not inconsistent with their existing legislation. Another provision relates ton protective measures for economic development purposes: in so far as these measures are not consistent with the other provisions of the G.A.T.T., they require the approval of the Contracting Parties acting jointly. The procedure to be followed for obtaining such approval will, under the Protocol modifying Part II of the Agreement, be assimilated to that laid down in the Havana Charter which is, in various respects, more elaborate and detailed than that at present provided for in the General Agreement.
The two remaining Protocols provide for provisional adherence by Chile to the General Agreement and for certain rectifications of the tariff schedules.
In addition, a multilateral agreement was drawn up regarding the grant of most favoured nation treatment to the occupied zones of Western Germany. This has been laid before the House as a separate paper (Cmd. 7539). This agreement, apart from the fact that it covers all the zones of Western Germany and not merely the bizone, follows closely the terms of the notes exchanged on this subject between the United Kingdom and the United States Governments last July 3W (Cmd. 7447) which have already been discussed and approved by this House. These four Protocols and the Agreement about Western Germany have been signed on behalf of the United Kingdom; in the case of the Protocol amending Part II of the G.A.T.T. this signature needs to be completed by a formal acceptance. In view of the wide measure of international agreement reached at Geneva as to the desirability of these changes which, viewed broadly, should not prove adverse to United Kingdom interests, it is proposed to accept them.
The Contracting Parties also decided amongst other things that a further round of multilateral tariff negotiations should be held at Geneva next April. This is to afford an opportunity to certain additional countries to adhere to the G.A.T.T. United Kingdom trade interests are, as before, being consulted in preparation for these negotiations, and I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I have given him today in this connection.