L/3653/Add.5 GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE. (a) working and getting the coal in Great Britain to the exclusion (save as is

Transcription

1 GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE RESTRICTED L/3653/Add.5 Limited Distribution Original:English STATE TRADING Notifications Pursuant Addendum UNITED KINGDOM I. ENUMERATION OF STATE-TRADING ENTERPRISES A. Coal to Article XVII:4(a) II. REASON AND PURPOSE FOR INTRODUCING ADN MAINTAINING THE STATE-TRDING ENTEPRISE A. Coal The National Coal Board was established in 946 when the coal industry was nationalized. It is a public corporation and its main duties as set out in S.I. of the Coal Industry Nationalization Act, 946 are: (a) working and getting the coal in Great Britain to the exclusion (save as is provided in the Act) of any other person; (b) securing the efficient development of the coal mining industry; and (c) making supplies of coal available, of such qualities and sizes, in such quantities and at such prices, as may seem to the Board best calculated to serve the public interest. The principal qualification. of the Board's monopoly is thatunders.36(2) of the 946 Act, as amended by S.46 of the Opencast Coal Act, 958, the Board may grant licenses for the working and getting of: (a) coal comprised in small mines in which the number of persons employed below ground is at no time likely greatly to exceed thirty; (b) coal present among other minerals which is of such small value that its working is unlikely to be undertaken except as ancillary to the working of these other materials; (c) coal in small opencast sites which are unlikely to yield substantially more than 25,000 tons.

2 Page 2 B. Iron and steel The Iron and Steel Act, 967, which provided for the public ownership of the major part of the iron and steel industry, became law on 22 March 967 and ownership of the fourteen major steel-producing companies in the United Kingdom was transferred to the British Steel-Corporation on 28 July 967. The British Steel Corporation, established by the Act, is a public corporation and its main statutory duties, as laid down in the Iron and Steel Act, 967, are: (a) to promote the efficient and economical supply of iron and steel products by the nationalized steel industry; (b) to produce iron and steel products so as to satisfy the reasonable demands of manufacturing consumers in the United Kingdom; (c) to avoid undue preference and unfair discrimination in the supply of iron and steel products, but subject to ordinary.commerciall considerations or the public interest; III. (d) to take such steps as appear to them to be practicable and desirable to promote the export of any products by the nationalized industry; (e) to promote research and development; (f) to ensure that the combined revenues of the Corporation, and the publicly-owned companies, taking one year with another, at least cover their combined charges, after making proper provision for depreciation and allocation to reserves. DESCRIPTIONOF THE FUNCTIONING OF THE STATE-TRADING ENTERPRISE Coa A. Imports of coal are allowed freely on Open General Licence from any part of the world, except Southern Rhodesia. Prior to Deccmber 970 it was not Govornment policy to authorize coal imports except in cases of specific emergency. In practice imports were of relatively smallamounts and were made by the National Coal Board, but the Board had no legal monopoly of such imports. Imports during 97 counted to only 4.2 million tons. The prices and terms of contracts, free from Government control, are negotiated by the importers themselves. Solid fuel exports are free of export control and both the National Coal Board and private non-vested interests are free to compote for overseas markets on a commercial basis. There is no Government control of export prices.

3 Page 3 B. Iron and steel The Corporation exports substantial quantities of iron and steel products. Its imports mainly raw materials, are for British Steel Corporation internal consumption. There is no governmental control of either imports or exports of iron and steel and private interests are free to compete with the Corporation on a commercial basis on both fronts. The quantities to be exported and imported are a matter for the Corporation's own commercial judgment as is the determination of its export prices. The Corporation's export prices are, to a large extent, dictated by those prevailing on the world market. The Corporation is free to enter into long-term contracts if commercial considerations so require. There are no contractual obligations between the Government and the Corporation. IV. STATISTICAL INFORMATION A. Coal See Annex I. B. Iron and steel Statistics for 969 to 97 are attached (Annex II). The figures for 969 and 970 for BSC imports and exports of "Other iron and steel products" have been revised to take account of the extended footnote (3). V. REASONS WHY NO FOREIGN TRADE HASTAKEN PLACE (IF PRODUCTS AFFECTED Does not apply. VI. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION None. THIS IS THE CASE) IN

4 Page 4 ANNEX I Statistics of Coal Trade and Production Tonnage ('000 tons) Value ( '000) (a) (b) Imports Re-exports (c) (i) Total exports (ii) Exports from nonvested (licensed) mines and opencast sites included in (c) (i) (d) (i) Total home production 2 3,456 Deep mined 44,256 Recovery slurry 2,670 Opencast 6,324 3,4 34, 526 2,530 7,748 4,74-2, , ,647 34,33 706,70 670,88 2,593 0,432 3,790 33,675 3,645 42,475 39,305 3, ,02 3,79 65,763 53,250 44,804 47, ,75 77,00 803,575 (ii) Production from licensed mines included in (d) (i) , 086 3,62 4,295

5 Page 5 Total 7,03 7,633 5,723 6,635 6,997 7,066 6,906 6,900 6,499 6,053 5,7885,454 ANNEXII United Kingdom- Iron and Steel ('000 statute tons) st 2nd 3rd 4th 3rd 4th st 2nd st 2nd 3rd 4th Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr Iron are BSX 3,23 3,0432,733 2,6882,807 2,786 3,0832,790 2,79 2,70 2,440 2,8 Other Total 3,307 5,37 2,837 2,93 2,857 2,70 2,798 2,440 2,8 Pig-iron (includ- Total 4,262 4,334 3,684 4,09 4,323 4,394 4,52 4,55 4,2243,779 3,746 3,424 Crude steel RSC 6,405 6,40 5,65 6,003 6,332 6,393 6,267 6,250 5,835 5,460 5,2694,95 Other Iron castings BSC Other Total ing blast furnesse BSC 4,78 4,266 3,644 4,029 4,236 4,036 4,4284,066 4,60 3,69 Total 7,03 7,633 5,723 6,635 6,997 7,066 6,906 6,900 6,499 6,0535,788 5,4

6 IMPORTS () Iron ore Manganese ore Pig-iron Other iron and steel products Iron and steel scrap EXPORTS() Pig-iron Other iron and steel products Iron and steel scrap BSC (2) BSC (2) BSC(3) (4) BSC(5) : BSC (6) (3) (6) BSC st 2nd Qtr Qtr BSC(2) 4,37 44,39 4,420 4, rd: Qtr 4,403 4, , th Qtr 4,457 4, ,207 () UK totals from. Overseas Trade Statistics (2) Receipts at works in 969: consumption thereafter (3) Ingots, semi-finished and finished steel, including, all sizes of steel tubes) st 2nd 3rd 4th Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr 4, , , ,20 4, , 53 5, , : st 2nd 3rd 4th Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr L/3653Add.5 Page 6 4, ,42 4, ,048, ,220 4, ,03,280 (4) Excludes ferro-alloys (5) Receipts at works (6) As reported by producers 369 3, ,