§ 3. Mr. Walkerasked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he takes to ensure that, when an application for action against dumping is made to him, he has immediate information of the price at which the commodity which is the subject of the application is being sold in the country of origin.
§ Mr. ErrollThe Board of Trade normally expects an industry which applies for anti-dumping action to provide some initial evidence of the price at which the commodity suspected of being dumped is being sold in the country of origin. If the case appeared to justify fuller investigation, the Board would then immediately set on foot further inquiries.
§ Mr. WalkerIs my right hon. Friend aware that certain producers were alarmed last year—for example over the case of the Polish eggs—when it took the Board of Trade about twenty days to obtain confirmation of the internal price of eggs in Poland? Will my right hon. Friend consider the possibility of looking at certain cases where commodities have been repeatedly dumped to ensure that the embassies in those countries keep a constant watch on the internal price so that this information can be obtained quickly?
§ Mr. ErrollI think that I ought to remind my hon. Friend that it is for the industry to take the initiative. In the case of Polish eggs, which we have argued at length during this year, the Board of Trade was able to act very 1537 quickly indeed. I am sorry to have to tell my hon. Friend that it really would not be possible for us to maintain a constant watch at all embassies in all countries in regard to all products which might at any time be dumped.
§ Mr. WalkerIs my right hon. Friend aware hat in the case of Polish eggs, although the Board of Trade acted quickly once the internal price had been confirmed, it was twenty days from the time the Board of Trade agreed to look into the price of eggs before it confirmed what the price was? Does he agree that this is undue delay?
§ Mr. ErrollNo. The question goes much wider than Polish eggs. If my hon. Friend is not satisfied with the steps we took on Polish eggs, I should be glad if he would table a Question on the matter.
§ Mr. PeytonDoes my right hon. Friend agree that a great deal of the difficulty in this matter stems from the fact that it is hard to ascertain internal prices in countries behind the Iron Curtain? Although I appreciate that he has to defend this system, I hope that he will realise that there is a great deal of discontent about the way in which it is being run. I hope that he will look at this, because customers, on whose behalf the system was instituted, are very far from sharing his satisfaction.
§ Mr. ErrollI appreciate the concern felt by many people about the operation of the Act, but I have said before, and I should like to repeat, that just as soon as an industry or a group of people come and see us at the Board of Trade we will then be very glad to look at the matter urgently; but we cannot take action in anticipation of a possible approach, because to do so would mean that we should always be running round after every possible hare which might never become a starter.