§ 19. Mr. Bullardasked the President of the Board of Trade the reasons for increasing the value of licences for the importing of fruit pulp in the period 8th November, 1951, to 30th June, 1952, from the £480,000, originally announced, to £895,000.
Mr. ThorneycroftI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to his Question on 27th May. The additional licences were issued, at the request of the Governments concerned, in cases where the sudden incidence of our import restrictions had interfered with the performance of outstanding contracts and caused exceptional hardship to exporting interests abroad, for example, where pulp had been specially prepared for the United Kingdom market and was unsaleable without serious loss elsewhere.
§ Mr. BullardIs my right hon. Friend aware that the quantity and value of fruit pulp imported in the first four months of this year were actually higher than those imported in the first four months of the previous year? In view of the fact that there is every prospect of a very fair crop of home grown soft fruit, is my right hon. Friend aware that this is very discouraging to the home grower and will he see that these quotas are observed and tightened up?
Mr. ThorneycroftWhile appreciating the point made by my hon. Friend, I must point out that we do try to administer these cuts, if we can, in a way which has some regard to contract obligations. We do it in the hope that other people will also do it for us.