§ 33. Miss Harvie Andersonasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will consult Great Britain's European Free Trade Association partners with a view to altering the position whereby under Article 6 of the Stockholm Convention certain countries have retained customs duty for revenue purposes, thus making difficult the export of British motor vehicles to a number of markets.
§ Mr. MasonThe action taken by these countries is permissible under Article 6 of the Convention. But my right hon. Friend agrees that it is contrary to the spirit of E.F.T.A., and we have made our dissatisfaction clear. We shall continue to pursue this issue as the opportunity arises.
§ Miss Harvie AndersonWould the hon. Gentleman agree that 30 per cent. of the possible benefit from the E.F.T.A. Agreement is lost by the operation of Article 6? Has he pressed for an improvement in this position to be reached at an early date to improve our own export position?
§ Mr. EmeryDoes not the Minister agree that there is very little likelihood of getting this sort of co-operation while we still have a temporary—I repeat ternporary—10 per cent. import surcharge on our imported goods?
§ Mr. MasonNo. This does not directly concern this Question and has not been 343 brought to our attention when we have made our dissatisfaction clear on the matter.