§ 17. Mr. Sorensenasked the President of the Board of Trade what evidence he has to show that exports prohibited from export to certain countries are nevertheless being exported to countries not on the embargo list and then re-exported from these to those on the list.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftWhile it is probable that some such re-export takes place, I have no evidence that the purpose of our controls is being frustrated to any material extent.
§ Mr. SorensenDoes not the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that it is very necessary to try to discover whether by indirect routes some of these materials are in fact reaching the countries on the embargo list? Is he aware, in particular, that a good deal of rubber goes from Czechoslovakia and other countries and that there are bitter complaints in Malaya and Hong Kong that they have lost their trade?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftThe hon. Member is quite right in saying that we ought constantly to watch, where we have strategic controls, to see that they are enforced as far as they can be enforced. He knows that we have various arrangements for trans-shipment and transaction control designed to secure that end. I am by no means saying that they are perfect or that the arrangements are completely watertight, but we do our best to see that they are properly observed.