§ 3. Commander SOUTHBYasked the President of the Board of Trade what was the total amount and value of liquid glucose imported from Russia during the last 12 months; whether he is aware that sweets made wholly with this foreign material have to be marked as such, whereas sweets which contain a large proportion of this material are being marketed as of British manufacture; and whether, in the interests of British consumers, he will take steps to see that any sweets which contain a proportion of foreign material shall be clearly marked as such, and that only such sweets as contain ingredients which are wholly manufactured in this country shall be sold as British sweets?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of TRADE (Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister)During the 12 months ended the 31st August, 1931, the imports of liquid glucose into the United Kingdom registered as consigned from the Soviet Union amounted to 192,599 cwts. of a declared value of £104,704. As regards the second part of the question, I am not aware of any specific requirement that sweets made wholly of foreign material must be marked accordingly.
§ Commander SOUTHBYWill the right hon. Gentleman consider having a marking order made, so that consumers may know whether the sweets are entirely of British manufacture?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERIt is open to the sweet manufacturers in this country to make application for a marking order under the Merchandise Marks Act, and, if such an application were made, it would be referred to the committee.