§ 39. Sir G. FOXasked the President of the Board of Trade the amount of Soviet butter which has been imported into this country Since the establishment of the embargo on Russian imports; and to what extent licences have already been issued for the importation of such butter in the immediate future?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of TRADE (Mr. Runciman)19,286 cwts. of Russian butter have been imported under licences issued under Section 2 of the Russian Goods (Import Prohibition) Act, 1933, and licences will shortly be issued for a further quantity of 10,000 cwts. All this butter had been substantially paid for before the issue of the Royal Proclamation on 19th April.
§ Sir G. FOXIs the Minister not aware of the urgent necessity for restricting the importation of butter from all sources into this country, and thus giving encouragement in the dairy industry?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANI am quite well aware of it, and, if it can be done only to the detriment of the persons against whom it is directed, that is all very well, but I do not like to penalise our own people.
§ Mr. CRAVEN-ELLISWould it not be possible to know who are the purchasers of this butter?