Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Page 65

ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION
57
the Northern Countries towards the most-favoured-nation clause
and expressed the opinion that the delegations consider it to be
to the interests of the Northern Countries that this clause should
be maintained in the future as a general rule in treaty policy and
should, as far as possible, be extended to embrace other measures
of commercial policy besides tariffs. In this connection, however,
the delegations expressed a wish that the governments should
take up an investigation of the possibility of introducing, as a
general rule, a “Northern reservation clause”, designed to enable
the Northern Countries to grant special favours to each others
in commercial matters in spite of the most-favoured-nation prin-
ciple.
As a specially important feature of the work of the delega-
tions as regards outward co-operation and the propagation of
a knowledge of the North as an economic entity, reference must
be made to the book entitled “The Northern Countries in World
Economy”, which was prepared by the propaganda committee
and published last autumn. Subsequently a Swedish and a Finnish
edition of the book were published, and in the near future the
volume will appear in French and German.
In regard to inter-Northern relations mention must be made
of the fact that the special committee appointed for this purpose
has collected extensive and instructive material concerning trade
between the Northern Countries and recommended special mea-
sures for its development.
The delegations have also devoted attention to the question
of the importation into the Northern Countries of goods the
prices of which are controlled by foreign monopolist producers,
and for which the Northern Countries might in certain cases
have to pay unfair prices.
In addition to these activities, the delegations have directed
their attention to a great many purely practical questions, con-
cerning the everyday intercourse between the countries of the
North. This side of the work of the delegations has in fact be-
come particularly important. Among such practical questions,
mention should be made of double taxation, the co-ordination
of legislation regarding firms and trade registers, the co-ordination
of Customs nomenclature, the organisation of an exchange of
industrial workmen between the Northern Countries, the in-
vestigation of the various forms of Northern co-operation both
between different State departments and private associations, as