§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what measures he proposes to take to help increase the trading prospects of developing countries; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NeedhamThe Government will continue to support strenuously the European Community's efforts, particularly in the current GATT Uruguay round negotiations, to create open trading conditions which will increase the trading prospects of all countries, including developing nations. An OECD study suggested that annual income gains to the developing world as a whole from a Uruguay round agreement could be in excess of $US 90 billion, once all the effects have worked through. Under its generalised system of preferences (GSP) scheme the European Community allows preferential access to most of the manufactured products from developing494W countries. The GSP provides especially generous treatment for the least developed nations. The trade provisions of the Lomé convention also provide unlimited duty free access (subject to rules of origin) to Community markets for all industrial products (except rum), and free or concessionary access for a wide range of agricultural products, from the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. Lomé beneficiaries financed from the European development fund (EDF) can also write into their national indicative programmes requirements for technical and structural adjustment aid which will benefit their export regimes.
The United Kingdom also actively participates in the United Nations conference on trade and development (UNCTAD) and other relevant international forums which encourage developing countries in their own efforts towards sustained economic development.