§ 17. Mr. Keelingasked the President of the Board of Trade if all food received by post from abroad and not marked as a gift is confiscated, or whether the addressee is given an opportunity to prove that such food is a gift; and what steps have been taken to notify senders of such gifts that they must be so marked.
§ Mr. H. WilsonWhenever a food parcel is detained by the Customs as not complying with the gift parcel concession, an opportunity is given to the consignee to apply for an import licence and furnish evidence that the parcel is a bona fide gift. Details of the gift parcel concession have been widely circulated both in this country and abroad.
§ Mr. KeelingDoes the President of the Board of Trade agree that these controls, if they are necessary at all, ought to be more lenient and elastic, since the more parcels are let in the further the supplies of other food will go round?
§ Mr. WilsonI am always prepared to look further into the matter. If the hon. Gentleman has a particular case in mind perhaps he will provide me with particulars.
§ Sir Henry Morris-JonesCould the right hon. Gentleman say what happens to half of these parcels, or even to a third of them? Not one third of them arrive in this country.