HC Deb 29 July 1988 vol 138 cc650-3W
Mr. Nicholas Bennett

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the main features of the preferential trading arrangements available to Third-world countries wishing to export to Britain, together with a list of those countries to which such arrangements apply.

Mr. Alan Clark

[holding answer 28 July 1988]: As a member of the European Community, the United Kingdom is party to the following preferential trading arrangements.

The Lome convention grants preferential treatment to products imported into the Community from the 66 African, Caribbean and Pacific states in Table 1. All ACP industrial products, except textiles and rum, and the great majority of agricultural products, are granted duty-free access and the remainder benefit from either a reduced rate of duty or exemption from duty for a limited quantity of imports. There is a parallel arrangement between the EC and the dependencies of member states in table 2.

The EC generalised scheme of preferences grants preferential treatment to products imported into the Community from the countries in table 3. All industrial products are granted duty-free access, and agricultural products access at reduced rates of duty, subject to quantitative limits in the case of certain products sensitive to Community interests.

In addition, the Community has preferential trade agreements with the countries listed in table 4. Under these agreements the Community also gives duty-free access to industrial products, and access at reduced rates of duty to agricultural products, subject to limits in the case of certain sensitive products.

Table 1.
List of ACP signatories to the third Lomé Convention
Angola Malawi
Antigua and Barbuda Mali
Bahamas Mauritania
Barbados Mauritius
Belize Mozambique
Benin Niger
Botswana Nigeria
Burkina Faso Uganda
Burundi Papua New Guinea
Cameroun Rwanda
Cape Verde St. Christopher and Nevis
Central African Republic St. Lucia
Chad St. Vincent and the
Comoros Grenadines
Congo São Tomée and Principe
Djibouti Senegal
Dominica Seychelles
Equatorial Guinea Sierra Leone
Ethiopia Solomon Islands
Fiji Somalia
Gabon Sudan
Gambia Surinam
Ghana Swaziland
Grenada Tanzania
Guinea Togo
Guinea-Bissau Tonga
Guyana Trinidad and Tobago
Ivory Coast Tuvalu
Jamaica Vanuatu
Kenya Western Samoa
Kiribati Zaire
Lesotho Zambia
Liberia Zimbabwe
Madagascar

Table 2

List of overseas countries and territories

  • Anguilla
  • 652
  • Aruba
  • British Antarctic Territories
  • British Indian Ocean Territory
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Cayman Islands
  • Falkland Islands
  • French Polynesia
  • French Southern and Antarctic Territories
  • Greenland
  • Mayotte
  • Netherlands Antilles
  • New Caledonia and Dependencies
  • Pitcairn
  • St. Helena and Dependencies
  • St. Pierre and Miquelon
  • South Sandwich Islands and Dependencies
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • Wallis and Futuna Islands

Table 3
List of developing countries and territories enjoying generalised tariff preferences
Afghanistan Kenya
Algeria Kiribati
Angola Korea
Antigua and Barbuda Kuwait
Argentina Laos
Bahamas Lebanon
Bahrain Lesotho
Bangladesh Liberia
Barbados Libya
Belize Madagascar
Benin Malawi
Bhutan Malaysia
Bolivia Maldives
Botswana Mali
Brazil Mauritania
Brunei Darussalam Mauritius
Burkina Faso Mexico
Burma Morocco
Burundi Mozambique
Cambodia Nauru
Cameroon Nepal
Cape Verde Nicaragua
Central African Republic Niger
Chad Nigeria
Chile North Yemen
China Oman
Colombia Pakistan
Comoros Panama
Congo Papua New Guinea
Costa Rica Paraguay
Cuba Peru
Cyprus Philippines
Djibouti Qatar
Dominica Romania
Dominican Republic Rwanda
Ecuador Samoa
Egypt Sao Tome and Principe
El Salvador Saudi Arabia
Equatorial Guinea Senegal
Ethiopa Seychelles and dependencies
Fiji Sierra Leone
Gabon Singapore
Gambia Solomon Islands
Ghana Somalia
Grenada South Yemen
Guatemala Sri Lanka
Guinea St. Christopher and Nevis
Guinea Bissau St. Lucia
Guyana St. Vincent
Haiti Sudan
Honduras Surinam
India Swaziland
Indonesia Syria
Iran Tanzania
Iraq Thailand
Ivory Coast Togo
Jamaica Tonga
Jordon Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia Vietnam
Tuvalu Western Samoa
Uganda Yugoslavia
United Arab Emirates Zaire
Uruguay Zambia
Vanuatu Zimbabwe
Venezuela
  • American Oceania
  • Anguilla
  • Aruba
  • Australian Antarctic Territories
  • Australian Oceania (Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island)
  • Bermuda
  • British Antarctic Territories
  • British Indian Ocean Territory
  • British Virgin Islands and Montserrat
  • Cayman Islands
  • Falkland Islands and Falkland dependencies
  • French Polynesia
  • French Southern and Antarctic Territories
  • Gibraltar
  • Greenland
  • Hong Kong
  • Macao
  • Mayotte
  • Netherlands Antilles
  • New Caledonia and dependencies
  • New Zealand Oceania (Tokelau and Niue Islands; Cook Islands)
  • Pitcairn
  • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
  • St. Helena
  • St. Helena dependencies
  • St. Pierre and Miquelon
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • Virgin Islands of the United States
  • Wallis and Futuna Islands

Table 4
List of Mediterranean countries enjoying preferential trading arrangements with the EC
Algeria Malta
Cyprus Morocco
Egypt Syria
Israel Tunisia
Jordan Turkey
Lebanon Yugoslavia

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