HC Deb 20 December 1906 vol 167 cc1706-8
MR. REES

I beg to ask MR. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the export trade in coffee and the duty collected on coffee have largely declined; that the General Committee of the London Chamber of Commerce has recorded a resolution to the effect that the requirements of the present Food and Drugs Act, in reference to forms of label, are not sufficient for the protection of the public; and that the law as to admixture and the declaration to the purchaser need to be greatly strengthened in the interest of the retail seller and the consumer of coffee; and whether he will introduce legislation requiring the use of a label specifying the proportion of coffee and of inferior substances in every admixture offered for sale as coffee.

I beg also to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the consumption of coffee has largely decreased; that the admixtures sold by retail tradesmen as coffee contain from 70 to 90 per cent. of chicory; that the value of this root per pound is 3d. to 3¼d., as against 1s. 0½d. per pound for the berry: and whether he will propose legislation at an early date for the protection of coffee, coffee planters, and coffee consumers.

MR. ASQUITH

I do not know quite what my hon. friend means by the export trade in coffee.

MR. REES

Re-exports.

MR. ASQUITH

As regards the Customs import duties, I do not trace any systematic decline, and the figures for 1906, so far as they are available, do not appear to be appreciably below the average of the past ten years. I have not seen the resolution of the general committee of the London Chamber of Commerce on this subject, but the question of the protection of the consumer against food adulteration is not one with which it is my duty as Chancellor of the Exchequer to deal. The Inland Revenue labels are merely stamps denoting uniform rates of duty, irrespective of the quality of the mixtures to which they are affixed. I do not know what is the relative proportion of coffee and chicory in the admixtures sold by retail tradesmen, and, so long as the duties upon the two ingredients are practically equal, the matter does not directly concern the Exchequer. From the point of view of the revenue I see no reason for introducing legislation.