§ 49. Mr. Wardasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that the importation from abroad of early vegetables and fruit is having an adverse effect on the home market; and what steps he proposes to take to protect home growers.
§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture (Mr. George Brown)No, Sir. Licences to import early vegetables are, practically without exception, limited to certain specified periods, beyond which home growers have complete protection against imports. I have no evidence that the demand for early fruit is insufficient to absorb available supplies, or that home growers are not getting reasonable prices for their produce.
§ Mr. BaldwinWhile appreciating that the Minister of Agriculture gets no assistance from his colleagues in this matter of increasing home production, might I ask whether he will have a look into this to see whether, in fact, these importations of fruit and vegetables are not having a very damaging effect on the production of home producers?