§ Mr. Woolmerasked the Secretary of of State for Trade what progress has taken place on the proposed new General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade clause authorising emergency safeguard action against selected suppliers of disruptive imports; and what action his Department has taken to press the need for such a clause with the European Commission in view of the disruption caused to domestic textiles industries from increased levels of textile imports.
§ Mr. Parkinson[pursuant to his reply, 29 November 1979]: It did not prove possible to conclude a new agreement on emergency safeguard action as part of the multilateral trade negotiations. Negotiations will, however, continue in the GATT. The arrangement regarding international trade in textiles is a separate GATT arrangement covering imports of textiles; it is not affected by the general safeguards negotiations.