§ Sir Richard BodyTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will set out details of the agreement on tropical agricultural products reached at the recent GATT mid-term review in Montreal; and if he will specify decisions taken about the treatment of processed agricultural products from less-developed countries.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkProvisional agreement was reached among 32 developed and developing countries* to contribute to an initial package of measures liberalising trade in tropical products. This, like the other provisional agreements reached in Montreal, is subject to confirmation by the trade negotiations committee of the GATT meeting in Geneva early in April. In the meantime some importing countries are implementing parts of the tropical products package unilaterally.
The European Communities' contribution to the package covers the reduction of elimination of duty in 153 product categories including cut flowers, tropical fruits and nuts, tea, coffee, spices, vegetable oils for industrial purposes, fruit juices, essential oils, tropical woods, ropes and cordage and jute products. Elimination of import duties is proposed for certain raw materials, and reductions of up to 50 per cent. are proposed for others and for processed and semi-processed products. Import quotas will also be ended for woven fabrics of jute and other bast fibres. These concessions will apply equally to all GATT member countries. The EC offer also included reductions in import duty on tobacco products from developing countries. Those reductions, together with reductions in duty on fresh pineapples and mixtures of tropical fruits and nuts from the least developed countries, were implemented on 1 January 1989 through the Community's generalised scheme of preferences for developing countries.
* Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, the Central American Countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua), Colombia, the members of the European Communities, Finland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand.