§ 26. Mr. Rankinasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the total value of import licences applied for within the quota for chemical imports from China, announced in Notices to Importers No. 921; by what date the applications had to be submitted; and what interval then elapsed before decisions were conveyed to the firms concerned.
§ Mr. ErrollApplications for licences to import chemicals from China under these arrangements amounted to about £450,000. The closing date for applications was 30th November, 1959, and licences were issued to most applicants on 18th December. The remainder of the applications has since been dealt with, but a few late applications are still being considered.
§ Mr. RankinIs the hon. Gentleman aware that I am informed that until this Question appeared on the Order Paper, at the beginning of February, practically no replies had been made by his office to those who wanted to import goods from China? Will he look into that? 1411 Can he now say what percentage of the total value of the licences which have been applied for was granted?
§ Mr. ErrollEach application had to be considered separately, according to the chemical asked for. The actual imports in 1958 were about £180,000 and the quota for the calendar year 1960 is about £350,000, so it is obviously possible now to accommodate most applications.