Britain ‘will have to fight harder ’

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32819, 20 January 1972, Page 2

Britain ‘will have to fight harder ’

(New Zealand Preee Association;

WELLINGTON, January 19.

Britain would have to fight harder for New Zealand as a result of the reinsertion of the “unanimity” clause into the E.E.C. protocol on New Zealand dairy products, said the Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Marshall) today.

It would previously have been possible for the nine other countries to agree on something, he said at a press conference. Now a decision would have to be unanimous and that placed an added responsibility on the British—they would be able to veto an unacceptable proposal.

Mr Marshall said that the •'unanimity” clause had been one of the points sought by the French, and it was no surprise that they had continued to seek it. The reinsertion of the clause should be kept in perspective—it was just one of many points in the protocol.

“What we should be acclaiming is that the Six have accepted in a binding legal form the agreement reached in Luxemburg,” he said. "This ensures continuance of our trade in dairy produce.”

Asked for how long, Mr Marshall replied: ‘To 1977,

and then beyond that fpr a further term at present indefinite."

He agreed that the decision would mean that when the agreement was reviewed in 1975, New Zealand would have to be close by the negotiating room. ACT OF FAITH

Asked if New Zealand was making another act of faith in Britain's good intentions, Mr Marshal! agreed this was so, and said these good intentions were reaffirmed in a cable he had received today from the British negotiator, Mr Rippon.

The French wanted the “unanimity" clause because they said it was implied that this was an “important question” and as such required unanimity. If it was implied, it should be written in.

Asked why, if this was the case, Britain and New Zealand had worked so hard to have it omitted, Mr Marshall said New Zealand was concerned about France and wanted to avoid a position where France could prove difficult. He still felt this concern, he said.