§ 12. Mr. W. R. A. Hudsonasked the President of the Board of Trade how far any payment of gold or dollars by this country is involved in the trade agreement recently concluded with Czechoslovakia.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftUnder the current trade and financial agreement with Czechoslovakia, which was signed on 28th September, 1949, and the schedules to which are reviewed annually, payment for imports from Czechoslovakia is made in sterling.
§ 13. Mr. W. R. A. Hudsonasked the President of the Board of Trade to what extent, as a result of the trade agreement recently concluded with Czechoslovakia, supplies, not otherwise obtainable of sugar, fat and products containing these commodities are available to British manufacturers and consumers; and if he will abandon this method of supplementing supplies as soon as possible.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 20th January last to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, North (Mr. C. I. Orr-Ewing) which explained the origin and purpose of the five-year Anglo-Czechoslovak Trade and Financial Agreement of 1949 and gave details of the quotas fixed for sugar/fat, fondant and confectionery for the year ending June, 1953. There is also a quota of 20,000 tons of sugar for the same period. The amounts of the quotas to be fixed for imports from Czechoslovakia for the year July, 1953, to June, 1954, will be determined in the light of the conditions prevailing at the time, including the policy on imports from other sources.
§ Mr. HudsonWould my right hon. Friend bear in mind that manufacturers and consumers alike desire less of these 1102 costly mixtures and more of the ingredients from which they are made, and would he represent that fact to the Minister of Food?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftI will certainly bear the point in mind, but, of course, my hon. Friend will appreciate that in any agreement of this kind both sides probably accept some things which they would prefer to do without.