Suchergebnisse

The Council of Ministers of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) held its third meeting in Geneva from February 14 to 16, 1961, under the chairmanship of Mr. Maudling, President of the Board of Trade of the United Kingdom. The main topics of discussion were 1) the advancement of the timetable for the reduction and elimination of tariffs within EFTA, and 2) the proposed association of Finland with EFTA. The Ministerial Council decided to bring forward by six months to July 1, 1961, the date by which the next 10 percent reductions were to be made in the tariffs applied within EFTA. The Ministers stated in the final communiqué of the meeting that the Council should pursue at official level the examination of the possibility of advancing the timetable for reducing and eliminating the tariffs applied within EFTA. The basic objective was to ensure that by January 1, 1970, if not before, goods manufactured within the area would be traded among the seven as if no frontiers existed. The Council agreed that this examination should be carried out at the same time as the following studies previously planned for 1961 in accordance with other provisions of the EFTA convention: 1) dismantling quantitative restrictions; 2) abolishing subsidized agricultural exports; and 3) facilitating the expansion of trade in agricultural goods. The Ministers also reached agreement on the form of association to be offered to Finland. Under the formula decided upon, Finland would in no sense be a member of EFTA but would have an ultimately tariff-free market for her exports in the seven EFTA countries. A separate free trade area was to be formed between Finland on the one hand and the seven EFTA members on the other, and a special council was to be created for matters affecting Finland alone. Finland would not be treated as an EFTA member but would be allowed to retain its existing trade agreements with the Soviet Union without exposing EFTA members to an irresistible demand for the same benefits. On March 27, 1961, it was announced by the press that Finland had signed the agreement linking her with EFTA.

The convention of the newest European economic organization, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), was initialed in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 20, 1959, by cabinet ministers of Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Under terms of the Stockholm agreement, according to the press, the seven nations were to eliminate trade barriers toward each other on a gradual basis designed to bring full free trade by 1970. Import tariffs in force on January 1, 1960, were due to be reduced 20 percent as of July 1, with subsequent tariff cuts at the rate of 10 percent a year. In addition to gradual mutual freedom of trade, the seven nations agreed to economic integration and harmonization of wages, social benefits, and other production cost factors. However, unlike the six members of the European Economic Community (EEC), the seven planned to retain their national tariff systems toward the exports of non-members.

An important item of discussion during the Autumn months of 1960 among the members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was reported to be the question of association with the European Economic Community (EEC), but the press announced in October a "lack of progress" in resolving the problems encountered. The question was said to have been included in the issues taken up at the second ministerial meeting of the Council, held in Berne, Switzerland, on October 11 and 12, 1960. Mr. Max Petitpierre, president of the Swiss Confederation, reportedly stated in an address to the Council that, even if there was little prospect of an agreement between EEC and EFTA in the immediate future, it was imperative that the two organizations work together, not only for commercial and economic reasons, but also because of the mission that Europe was called on to discharge toward the newly independent countries. Since, however, an acceptable settlement with EEC seemed impossible in the near future, the Council determined that EFTA should proceed with its own plans. In pursuance of this decision, the Ministers decided to establish a consultative committee, representative of all aspects of economic activity, including labor, to advise on all facets of the activity of the Association. Also considered at the meeting was the possibility of an additional 10 percent tariff reduction to take effect as of January 1, 1961, to keep pace with the EEC cut scheduled for that date, but the Council concluded that too little time had elapsed since the first 20 percent tariff reductions on July 1, 1960, to make any modification of the timetable feasible at this time; it resolved, nevertheless, to re-examine the question early in 1961. The Ministers noted with satisfaction that the original tariff cuts had gone into operation without difficulty, and reasserted that the object of EFTA was not the creation of an inward-looking preferential bloc—for example, no restrictions on trade with third countries had been introduced with the creation of the group. EFTA offered to all trading nations, whether producers of industrial or agricultural products, stated the Council, the opportunities of an expanding market.

The seventeenth session of the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was held in Geneva from October 31 to November 19, 1960, under the chairmanship of Mr. Edmundo Penna Barbosa da Silva (Brazil). One of the main items of discussion was regional economic integration, considered in terms of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the proposed Latin American free trade area, and the European Economic Community (EEC). Examination of the Stockholm Convention establishing EFTA, begun at the sixteenth session, was resumed, with the contracting parties concluding that the provisions concerning the setting up, within the time limit set forth in the convention, of a free trade area were within the definition of such an area, as contained in Article XXIV of GATT. Delegates felt, however, that there remained some legal and practical issues which could be more fruitfully discussed in the light of experience of the operation of the convention, and thus welcomed the willingness of EFTA members to furnish additional information as the organization evolved. In examining the Montevideo Treaty proposing a Latin American free trade area, delegates reached much the same conclusions. In response to the report on developments within EEC, particularly with regard to tariffs, delegates expressed a desire to receive details on the common agricultural policy of the Community, and raised queries as to the harmful effect of the Community's progressively favorable treatment of the associated territories on the trade of certain outside countries with EEC.