HC Deb 02 April 1903 vol 120 cc911-2
MR. LOUGH

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Austrian Government has approved a system of restricting the output of sugar similar to that prevailing in Russia, so as to increase the advantage it can derive from the clause setting up a surtax in the Brussels Convention; whether Germany has declined to adopt this system, and is of opinion that it creates a bounty and exposes Austrian sugar to retaliatory duties; and whether any correspondence has taken place with the Austrian Government on the matter.

THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Lord CRANBORNE,) Rochester

A law has been passed in Austria for the regulation of the amount of sugar allowed to be produced for the home market. Baron Thielmann, the German Secretary of the Treasury, is reported to have stated that the Federated Governments did not as yet see any reason to propose for Germany any such measure, which would mean the establishment of a monopoly for existing factories, and to have added that the decision of the question whether or not this law creates a bounty would rest with the Permanent Commission at Brussels. No correspondence has taken place on the subject with the Austrian Government.

MR. LOUGH

Have the Government expressed any opinion on it.

LORD CRANBORNE

We are not called upon to express any opinion. That is a matter for the Permanent Commission.