§ 20. Colonel Gomme-Duncanasked the Minister of Food if he is now in a position to give information regarding the distribution of cereals from the 1944–45 harvests by the Combined Food Board to the various countries concerned, together with estimates of the amounts available from their respective domestic production.
§ Mr. StracheyFull information on the basis asked for in the first part of the Question is not yet obtainable but I propose with the hon. and gallant Member's permission to circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT provisional figures of exports of cereals from the four main exporting countries during the period July, 1945, to June, 1946, recently received in a report prepared for the Cereals Committee of the International Emergency Food Council.
I am not yet in a position to provide the information asked for in the second 10 part of the Question but I hope to receive some particulars from Washington in the near future, which I will let the hon. and gallant Member have.
§ Colonel Gomme-DuncanWhile thanking the right hon. Gentleman for part of his answer, may I ask why the figures for 1944–45 harvests are not yet known? It seems to me that the Combined Food Board concerns all of us, and we are entitled to know because we have to give up a great deal of our own foodstuffs.
§ Mr. StracheyI am not responsible for the actions—not of the Combined Food Board, but of the International Emergency Food Council. However, we certainly are pressing very hard that these figures should be available.
§ Mr. Godfrey NicholsonIs the right hon. Gentleman seriously telling the House that our representatives on the Combined Food Board have not been able to extract from the rest of the Board, and have not had in their possession, figures showing how these materials have been distributed? It is incredible to believe that.
§ Mr. StracheyHon. Members will talk of the Combined Food Board, which no longer exists. I suppose they refer to the International Emergency Food Council.
§ Mr. StracheyIt is by no means the same thing. The Combined Food Board was just four countries and was a very much easier body to deal with. The International Emergency Food Council is some 20 Governments and that is a much larger and more difficult body to deal with.
§ Mr. Manningham-BullerWill the right hon. Gentleman answer the question put by my hon. Friend the Member for Farnham (Mr. Nicholson)? He has not answered that point.
§ Mr. StracheyAs to why the International Emergency Food Council has not yet issued figures in this respect?
§ Mr. Manningham-BullerWhy it does not know them.
§ Mr. StracheyThe International Emergency Food Council will issue figures, and we are pressing that they should do so, but we do not control that body.
§ Following are the provisional figures:
| EXPORTS OF WHEAT (INCLUDING FLOUR) AND COARSE GRAINS, JULY, 1945-JUNE, 1946 (a) | |||||||||||
| In Thousands of Tons | |||||||||||
| Destination. | From U.S.A. (b). | From Canada | From Argentina. | From Australia. | Total. | ||||||
| Wheat and Flour | Coarse Grains | Wheat and Flour | Coarse Grains | Wheat and Flour | Coarse Grains | Wheat and Flour | Coarse Grains | Wheat and Flour | Coarse Grains | ||
| United Kingdom (c) | 309.3 | 20.9 | 4,304.4 | 59.8 | 271.2 | 255.1 | 15.3 | — | 4,900.2 | 335.8 | |
| India | 163.9 | 82.0 | 669.9 | 0.8 | 8.1 | 6.6 | 428.3 | — | 1,270.2 | 89.4 | |
| South Africa | 8.7 | 18.2 | 156.4 | — | — | 172.2 | 17.7 | — | 182.8 | 190.4 | |
| New Zealand | — | 2.2 | 101.1 | — | — | — | 23.4 | — | 124.5 | 2.2 | |
| Red Sea Area | 101.3 | 3.1 | 110.4 | 0.5 | — | — | 18.4 | — | 230.1 | 3.6 | |
| Persian Gulf | — | 0.2 | 34.2 | — | — | — | — | — | 34.2 | 0.2 | |
| Ceylon | — | 0.1 | 47.3 | — | 14.0 | — | 219.0 | — | 280.3 | 0.1 | |
| British West Indies | 16.4 | — | 41.3 | 0.4 | — | — | — | — | 57.7 | 0.4 | |
| Other Colonial Territories | — | — | 195.1 | — | — | 17.5 | 32.2 | — | 227.3 | 17.5 | |
| U.K. Zone, Germany | 158.6 | 45.7 | 119.3 | — | — | — | — | — | 277.9 | 45.7 | |
| France and French North Africa | 2,153.2 | 30.8 | 952.2 | 45.9 | 26.1 | 480.7 | — | — | 3,131.5 | 527.4 | |
| Belgium and Luxembourg | 540.9 | 82.6 | 351.1 | 53.2 | 30.8 | 258.0 | — | — | 922.8 | 393.8 | |
| Netherlands | 303.6 | 34.6 | 414.3 | 54.0 | — | 72.2 | — | — | 717.9 | 160.8 | |
| Norway | 12.4 | 37.4 | 167.1 | 6.8 | 19.2 | 50.9 | — | — | 198.7 | 95.1 | |
| Finland | 17.8 | — | — | — | — | 2.3 | — | — | 17.8 | 2.3 | |
| Portugal | 84.8 | 9.2 | 126.2 | 1.4 | 4.8 | 15.1 | — | — | 215.8 | 25.7 | |
| Spain | 54.8 | — | — | — | 208.8 | 53.2 | — | — | 263.6 | 53.2 | |
| Sweden | — | 0.1 | — | — | 73.8 | 46.3 | — | — | 73.8 | 46.4 | |
| Switzerland | 2.3 | 11.9 | 167.9 | 3.0 | 39.4 | 159.4 | — | — | 209.6 | 204.3 | |
| Eire | — | — | 137.8 | 21.7 | — | 33.7 | — | — | 137.8 | 55.4 | |
| Miscellaneous | 1,279.7 | 276.3 | 1,158.3(d) | 606.9 | 992.6 | 434.8 | 249.6 | — | 3,680.2 | 1,318.0 | |
| UNRRA Countries | 3,017.5 | 262.6 | 673.3 | 114.8 | 132.3 | 79.9 | 25.0 | — | 3,848.1 | 457.3 | |
| U.S. Zones | Germany, Austria, Italy, Japan | 2,029.3 | 158.4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2,029.3 | 158.4 |
| French Zones | |||||||||||
| TOTAL | 10,254.5 | 1,076.3 | 9,927.6 | 969.2 | 1,821.1 | 2,137.9 | 1,028.9 | — | 23,032.1 | 4,183.4 | |
| (a) The figures given are not final and are subject to revision. | |||||||||||
| (b) Excludes exports of Canadian wheat milled in bond in the U.S. | |||||||||||
| (c) Includes requirements of British Services at home and abroad. | |||||||||||
| (d) Includes exports of wheat to the U.S. for consumption and milling in bond. |