FOREIGN ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL POLICY


have been taken, on the reasons why-they considered no action to be
necessary.4
II. The Problem    of Discriminatory Application of Quantitative
     Restrictions
  The present situation. The OEEC trade liberalization program has
had the very commendable objective and effect of reducing trade
barriers-among OEEC countries. Individual countries are implement-
ing their trade liberalization commitments in the OEEC by two types
of measures. The first type consists of the setting up of "free lists",
i.e., lists to which no limits on imports are applied, provided those
imports emanate from a specified list of countries. The various OEIEC
countries have followed different policies in their enumeration of the
list of countries eligible for free list privileges. Some, like Britain,
Switzerland and Austria, have framed their liberalization measures
on a world-wide basis; Switzerland and Austria have declared that
certain listed products may be freely imported from all countries of
the world, while Britain has included all countries except those whose
currencies are scarce, i.e., Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, the U.S. and
other so-called "American-account" countries. Other countries,
like
Belgium-Luxembourg, France, Trizone Germany, Italy, Greece, Por-
tugal, Denmark, Netherlands and Norway,¶¶ have confined the free
list eligibles to some or all of the other OEEC members.
   In addition to setting up these unilatera free lists, some OEEC
 countries have also specified a list of products which they would be
 willing to put on a free list for the benefit of other countries, provided
 such other countries were willing to extend similar measures of
 liberalization. This opportunity for negotiation is ordinarily not ex-
 tended universally but is offered only to certain other countries. For
 example, Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Por-
 tugal, Sweden, Germany, Italy and Austria all have limited their offers
 of bilateral negotiation on specified lists of products to some or all of
 the OEEC countries.
   Finally, some countries have instituted, or are giving consideration
 to the institution of, global quotas on imports.* But, here again, each
 country specifies those other countries which would be eligible to com-

   On February 23 the United States submitted to the fourth session of the
 CP's a memorandum entitled "Review of Application of Quantitative Restrictions
 on Imports designed to Afford Protection to Domestic Industry (Doe. GATT/
 CP.4/13, 23 February 1950, Lot 57D284, Box 112).
   ¶¶ Sweden has followed an intermediate policy by including in
its list of
 eligible countries the non-OEEC sterling area countries. [Footnote in the
source
 text.]
   * Here and elsewhere in this paper, the phrase "global quotas"
is given the
 meaning commonly accorded the term in Europe, i.e., a quota available to
be filled
 In whole or in part by more than one country. [Footnote in the source text.]


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