§ 6. Mr. Liptonasked the President of the Board of Trade how many trade agreements have been lodged with the Restrictive Practices Court; and how many of them have been approved.
§ Mr. J. RodgersSince the opening of the Register, 2,240 agreements have been registered. Of these, 770 have been abandoned and 1,470 still remain in operation, and of these, nine have so far been examined by the Restrictive Practices Court. One complete agreement and certain particulars of another have been found to operate in the public interest. Orders declaring restrictions to be contrary to the public interest have been made, with the consent of the parties, in 34 other cases.
§ Mr. LiptonIs it not clear from those miserable statistics that it will take about a hundred years to dispose fully of those price maintenance agreements? Most of them are illegal anyway. When will the Government get a move on with this?
§ Mr. RodgersThe figures I have quoted show that Part I of the 1956 Act is operating efficiently. Action has been started by the Registrar to bring a further 120 cases before the court.