§ 6. Sir WILLIAM DAVISONasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that quantities of foreign cloths are being imported into this country and, having been marked London shrunk, are sold as English material; and whether steps will be taken to pre vent the public being misled into thinking that such cloths are manufactured in, England?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANThe Merchandise Marks Act, 1887, prohibits the application to goods of a false trade description, but I am advised that in ordinary trade usage the term "London shrunk" means a particular process of shrinking, and is not intended to imply that the process was carried out in London. It would, therefore, not be possible to take action under the Act of 1887, unless, of course, the cloth in question had not in fact undergone this process. I should add that it is open to the interests concerned to make an application under Section 2 of the Merchandise Marks Act, 1926, to require all imported cloth to bear an indication of origin.