HC Deb 13 December 1966 vol 738 cc395-6

10.39 p.m.

The Minister of State, Board of Trade (Mr. George Darling)

I beg to move, That the Import Duties (General) (No. 9) Order 1966 (S.I., 1966, No. 1472), dated 23rd November 1966, a copy of which was laid before this House on 29th November, be approved. The purpose of the Order is to impose a protective duty of 20 per cent. ad valorem, which is the full rate, on certain alcohol ethers.

I should explain, to begin with, that no duty will be chargeable on imports of these alcohol ethers from countries in the Commonwealth preference area or in E.F.T.A. The Order follows, and is related to, the earlier Order which the House approved by affirmative Resolution in June of last year. This earlier Order imposed a 20 per cent. duty on certain fatty alcohols used mainly for the manufacture of what are called, I regret to say, highly biodegradable detergents. I think that they could have been given a simpler name.

These detergents are the kind whose foam or lather quickly disappears when discharged into rivers or sewerage works, and the present Order extends the same level of protection to alcohol ethers which are derived from those fatty alcohols I have mentioned. The ethers are mainly used for making liquid biodegradable detergents. The terms I have used could, perhaps, be faulted by expert chemists, but they will give hon. Members a true picture of what is involved here.

Hon. Members who were present at the debate on 28th June last year will recall that the duty was raised on the alcohols concerned for a variety of reasons. The most important was that the demand for highly biodegradable detergents which would not pollute our water supplies was expanding and that it was in the national interest to encourage that expansion, but that expansion brought some difficulties to our domestic producers, who had to pay substantially higher duties on their raw materials than their foreign competitors, so that their costs were unavoidably higher.

At the same time, price competition was unusually severe, and the imported goods were offered, in many cases, at prices that could not be equalled without cutting the margin of home production below an economic level.

Moreover, the main producer in Britain was, or is, located in a development area. I do not know whether this Order is to be opposed——

Mr. Iain Macleod (Enfield, West)

Does not the Minister of State realise that the next business is a Prayer, and that this is the last night for it, and that it cannot be postponed? Will he therefore please show some consideration for the House instead of reading out this interminable brief?

Mr. Darling

It is essential, when putting on an ad valorem duty of this size, to explain it to the House. I was just about to say that if no one intends to oppose the Motion I think that the explanation I have given will suffice. I want to help the right hon. Gentleman as much as I can.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved, That the Import Duties (General) (No. 9) Order 1966 (S.I., 1966, No. 1472), dated 23rd November 1966, a copy of which was laid before this House on 29th November, be approved.