43. Sir F. HALLasked the President of the Board of Trade what was the approximate value of manufactured chocolate imported into this country from holland and Switzerland, respectively, in 1926 and 1927; and, seeing that the foreign competition which British manufacturers meet with in this industry n the Home mallets is due to lower wages being paid and longer hours worked by competing foreign firms, will he consider the imposition of safeguarding duties in this case?
Mr. WILLIAMSWith my hon. and gallant Friend's permission I will circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT giving the figures for which he asks. With regard to the second part of the question, I would remind him that articles of food and drink are specifically excepted from the scope of the safeguarding policy.
§ Following is the statement:
§ The following table shows the declared values of the total imports of Cocoa Preparations into Great Britain and Northern Ireland consigned from Netherlands and Switzerland, respectively, during each of the years 1926 and 1927.
| Description and Countries whence consigned. | 1926. | 1927. |
| £ | £ | |
| Cocoa Preparations (including chocolate confectionery): | ||
| Containing Sugar: | ||
| Netherlands | 241,549 | 255,461 |
| Switzerland | 1,208,830 | 1,106,881 |
| Notcontaining Sugar: | ||
| Netherlands | 43,153 | 56,126 |
| Switzerland | 672 | 304 |
| Total | 1,494,204 | 1,418,772 |
§ NOTE.—The figures for 1927 are provisional only.