Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Page 50
42
LE NORD
As early as in the spring of 1932, the economic crisis com-
pelled Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands to combine their
efforts against the wave of protection sweeping over the world.
They suggested to the other Oslo Powers to conclude an agree-
ment for mutual reductions of tariffs and proposed that this
agreement should be open to other countries as well, in analogy
with the preferential treaties planned by the Danubian Coun-
tries. The Northern Governments were not at that time disposed
to follow such an initiative; but on June i6th, 1932, at Ouchy,
Switzerland, representatives of the three countries mentioned
above signed a preliminary convention tending to realize the
idea of forming limited groups of nations approaching a
system of tariff union. The final signature of the governments
was given the next month, July i8th, at Geneva. The contract-
ing parties undertook reciprocally to reduce their customs duties
by ten per cent. every year over a period of five years, whereby
duties were reduced by fifty per cent. at the close of that period;
no government, however, would be obliged to reduce their duties
below a certain percentage of the value of each single article,
the minimum for semi-manufactured articles being fixed at four
per cent., for finished goods at eight per cent.
The latter provision aimed at introducing a certain elasticity
into the general principle of the new convention. But it could
not remove the fact that as a whole the Ouchy Convention suf-
fered from the great weakness of all instruments subjected to
mechanical application. The governments concerned declared the
convention open to other states in the hope that they would sym-
pathize with the initiative and accept the invitation. But in their
agreement they had not taken fully into consideration the dif-
ficulties particular to the different countries, and it appeared
unjust to bind all adhering nations to the obligation of reducing
their customs duties by fifty per cent. in the course of five years,
without distinguishing adequately between high tariff countries
and low tariff countries.
These difficulties, however, do not bear the responsibility
for the failure of the Ouchy Convention. What wrecked it was
its very principle, the attempt at creating a low tariff area of
several countries separate from the protectionist nations surround-
ing them. The principle of according reductions to the signatory
powers exclusively, obviously conflicted with the most-favoured-
nation clause. This conflict clearly existed, in spite of the fact