§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on his Department's attitude towards a policy of real reciprocity in world textile trading with particular reference to the recent developments in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Travels multilateral trade negotiations.
§ Mr. Meacher, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 13 February 1979; Vol. 962, c. 493], gave the following information:
In the multilateral trade negotiations the European Economic Community is seeking from its industrialised trading partners reciprocal tariff concessions to match Community offers of tariff cuts on manufactured goods. I fully support this policy, and attach particular importance to reaching a balanced agreement in respect of the textile sector.
Concessions are being sought from the developing countries to the extent that their level of economic development permits. United Kingdom imports of textile products from the developing world are controlled by the restrictions in the multifibre arrangement.