EC disks probe dropped

Hong Kong scored an unprecedented victory yesterday after the European Commission dropped a long-running investigation into damaging claims that Hong Kong microdisk manufacturers were indulging in illegal trade practices.

The EC formally admitted, through a note verbale to the Government, that it had insufficient evidence to support complaints that companies had been dodging punitive import tariffs by disguising where disks had been made.

The Committee of European Diskette Manufacturers had alleged that China and Taiwan-made disks were being shipped through the territory, and eight other countries.