§ 39. Mr. Burkeasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will give a full statement of the import quotas 1985 which have been in force in British Colonies or Protectorates from time to time since 1934 and which are now in force in respect of non-British goods?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreThe only quotas applicable to imports into the Colonial Dependencies are the quotas on textiles of cotton or artificial silk which were brought into force in 1934. These applied to all parts of the Colonial Empire except the Mandated Territories, the East African territories subject to the provisions of the Congo Basin Treaty, Hong Kong, North Borneo, Tonga, Gibraltar, St. Helena, and the Falkland Islands. They covered imports from all foreign countries, except in West Africa where they were originally confined to imports from Japan. More recently the system has been applied in Nigeria to all foreign countries and in the Gold Coast, to British imports as well. The quotas originally prescribed were based generally on average imports for the years 1927–31 and that basis has been continued, except again in Nigeria and the Gold Coast where it has been thought desirable to provide under the new system for larger imports.