General: Relations with Soviet Bloc: Extension of Trade with Eastern Europe

A file of correspondence and reports concerning British moves to liberalise trade with Eastern Europe. The documents cover a decision by the British Board of Trade to liberalise U.K. trade with the Soviet Union and Romania, to encourage the further expansion of trade following a substantial increase in exports. British trade with Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria had already been liberalised in 1964 and 1965. Topics covered in the file include detailed lists of goods imported from Eastern Europe to the U.K. that will no longer be subject to quota restrictions, including foodstuffs, textiles, livestock, and consumer goods; and safeguards put in place to protect British producers, with quantitative controls set to be restored if necessary. Other documents in the file discuss the British government's decision not to liberalise trade with East Germany.