HC Deb 11 March 1970 vol 797 cc328-9W
Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a statement on the conference held in Geneva on Thursday, 26th February, 1970, of the 76 member nations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: and what effect Great Britain's application to join the European Economic Community is having on the timing of negotiations or the scale of the Kennedy Round tariff cuts next year.

Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody

The 26th Session of the Contracting Parties of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was held at Geneva from 16th to 27th February. The Conclusions adopted by the Session covered the whole range of the Organisation's work; I will arrange to place the full text in the Library of the House. The timing of any further negotiations in the G.A.T.T. must, therefore, await the results of the work now in train, but Great Britain's application to join the European Economic Community will not affect next years scheduled Kennedy Round tariff cuts.