§ 19. Mr. Osborneasked the President of the Board of Trade how much trade has been concluded to date under the Anglo-Polish Trade Agreement of November, 1954; and what proportion this is of the amount contemplated under the Agreement.
§ Mr. LowMany of our imports from Poland and some of our exports are not covered by the Trade Agreement. Our imports last year at £29.4 million showed a large increase over 1954, mainly on account of coal, but our exports were lower at £6.4 million as compared with £7.9 million in 1954. There is thus room for considerably increased purchases by Poland. We have now completed negotiations about trade for 1956. We have repeated our protests about the disregard of some of our quotas, and I believe that we shall now see an improvement.
§ Mr. OsborneHas the question of the old debts been settled, and are they out of the way now with reference to new trade? Secondly, under Article VIII, there were facilities for credit. Have they been fully used? Could my hon. Friend say what goods the Poles have promised to purchase which have not been purchased in the last twelve months?
§ Mr. LowIn reply to the third part of that question, I could not say without notice; I could not give a comprehensive answer. As to the credits, the trade agreement sets out the terms on which the Export Credits Guarantee Department operates, but how much credit can be given and for how long depends on commercial considerations.