HC Deb 30 July 1949 vol 467 cc204-8W
Mr. Lennox-Boyd

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) how many representatives of the United Kingdom Government are attending the conference on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade now sitting at Annecy;

(2) if he will give the names of the representatives of the United Kingdom conducting negotiations on trade at Annecy;

(3) what arrangements are made to enable British representatives at Annecy to consult with interested parties in this country in connection with any negotiations in respect of tariffs, preference, or other arrangements;

(4) whether he will give an estimate of how long it will be before the Conference at Annecy concludes its discussions;

(5) whether he will give any information as to the progress made at the conference on tariffs and trade now being conducted at Annecy.

Mr. Bottomley

The United Kingdom delegation at Annecy consists at present of five delegates and advisers, viz.: Mr. R. J. Shackle, C.M.G. (Adviser on Commercial Policy, Board of Trade) (Head of Delegation), Mr. C. W. Jardine (Board of Trade), Miss N. K. Fisher (Board of Trade), Miss Y. Lovat-Williams (Board of Trade), and Miss M. A. Cotterill (Ministry of Food), together with Mr. J. R. Cross (Secretary of Delegation) and junior staff. At earlier stages it was larger and included officers from certain other Departments. It has been progressively reduced whenever this has been rendered possible by the conclusion of particular parts of the work.

The main items on the agenda of the Conference have been:

  1. (a) Tariff negotiations between the 23 existing contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and 11 other countries, with a view to the latter's accession to the Agreement.
  2. (b) Consideration by the contracting parties as to whether they can approve the continuance of a substantial number of import restrictions imposed by certain countries for protective purposes.
  3. (c) Consideration of the form of Special Exchange Agreement to which parties to the General Agreement which are not members of the International Monetary Fund will in due course be required to adhere.
  4. (d) Consideration of import restrictions imposed by the Union of South Africa to protect its balance of imports.
  5. (e) Consideration of the Interim Agreement for a Customs Union between the Union of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia.
  6. (f) Examination of certain discriminatory internal taxes maintained by the Government of Brazil.
  7. (g) Consideration of certain measures of an emergency character proposed by the Government of Cuba for the protection of their textile industry.

In addition, the opportunity has been taken to hold at Annecy a short session of the Executive Committee of the Interim Commission for the proposed International Trade Organisation and of the signatories of the Agreement of September, 1948, on Most-favoured-nation Treatment for Western Germany.

The Conference has lasted considerably longer than was expected, owing mainly to the addition to the agenda of a number of matters arising during the Conference, and to the fact that a number of foreign countries were unable to produce their lists of tariff requests, and two countries their proposed new tariffs, by the dates originally laid down. Most of the tariff negotiations and all the other items have now been completed, and, at the instance of the United Kingdom Delegation, it has been decided that the session of the contracting parties will be terminated if possible by 6th August and in any event by 13th August. Latitude has however been allowed to enable certain outstanding bilateral tariff negotiations to be completed, provided that this is done by 27th August. As regards tariff negotiations between the United Kingdom and the 11 Governments desiring to accede to the General Agreement, seven negotiations have been substantially completed, work is continuing on three, and in the case of one country (Liberia) it has been agreed that bilateral tariff negotiations with the United Kingdom are unnecessary. We shall of course inform the House as soon as possible of the full results of the tariff negotiations.

As regards consultation with interested parties, direct approaches were made before the Conference by Departments to the various organisations most directly concerned, and comments from others who might be interested were invited by notice in the Board of Trade Journal, so that the United Kingdom Delegation was briefed as fully as possible in advance. During the Conference, the United Kingdom Delegation has of course maintained close contact with Government Departments in London, who have carried out any necessary consultation—through the Joint Consultative Committee for Industry, which is representative of both sides of industry on questions of a general nature, and by direct discussion with the particular trade interests concerned in other cases calling for consultation.

Mr. Challen

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware of the resentment felt by British people attending the conference at Annecy over the prices agreed to by His Majesty's Government with the hotel which were in excess of the ordinary prices; and if he will explain how this came about.

Mr. Bottomley

I am not aware of any complaints by members of the United Kingdom Delegation at Annecy about the cost of their hotel accommodation, which is in fact met by His Majesty's Government in accordance with prices negotiated between the secretariat of the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Annecy hotel-keepers. It was decided by vote of the contracting parties to hold the Conference at Annecy, although the hotel accommodation there is limited and the level of prices relatively high, since the Conference secretariat services could be efficiently and economically based on the Palais de Nations in Geneva, where, however, sufficient hotel and office accommodation for delegations was not available. During most of the Conference, the agreed hotel prices have been below the holiday season level, though, owing to the unavoidable extension of the Conference, certain seasonal price increases have had to be accepted since 1st July. Every effort has been made to keep down the cost of accommodation as far as possible, and, of course, to send back to the United Kingdom members of the delegation as soon as their services at Annecy could be spared.