§ 27. Mr. Jayasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is satisfied that the producers of matches and matchmaking machinery are complying with the report of the Monopolies Commission relating to those industries, and with his statement of 22nd October, 1953; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftI have no reason to believe that the British Match Corporation and the Swedish Match Company are not conforming with the arrangements made following the Report of the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission. I made a statement on this matter on 5th April, 1954, of which I am sending the right hon. Member a copy.
§ Mr. JayAs the President said before that he would closely watch the situation, can he say whether his Department is actively and vigilantly keeping in touch with what is going on, or is it just sitting back and waiting to hear what is happening?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftMy Department is active and vigilant in all matters, but if the right hon. Gentleman has any information to the contrary, I should be very happy to consider it.
§ Mr. GaitskellBut does not the President's Department take any positive steps to ensure that the agreement reached with the match people is being carried out? Can he not make a more positive statement?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftI can make this positive statement that—without entering into details—the difficulty before concerned a market-sharing arrangement and it is relevant that the market-sharing arrangement has altered and the amount of imports has positively risen.