§ 14. Sir F. Medlicottasked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware of the prejudicial effect which the present scale of imports of apples and pears from the United States of America is having on the home-grown produce; and if he will make some appropriate reduction in the quota for the next ensuing licensing period.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithNo, Sir. Last season imports from the United States of America of dessert apples were 4 per cent. of home production and of pears 7½ per cent. of home production.
§ Sir F. MedlicottWill my right hon. and learned Friend bear in mind that it is the timing rather than the quantity of imports that can bear very hardly on home producers? Will he use the utmost vigilance to see that they are treated as favourably as possible?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI will certainly take note of what my hon. Friend says. As I am sure he knows, the United States apples are imported mostly in the first 9 three months of the year, after the bulk of the United Kingdom crop has been marketed and before the first arrivals from the Southern Commonwealth in the spring.
§ Mr. SnowIs not it ridiculous to import apples from hard currency areas anyhow, even though it be a small amount, when there is available a surplus of good apples in Kent all the year round, of which producers have great difficulty in disposing?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithNorth America is traditionally a source of supply of apples and pears into this country and the quantities imported in recent years have been only a small fraction of pre-war imports.