§ 26. Mr. Whitakerasked the President of the Board of Trade which non-Commonwealth countries at present receive Commonwealth preference trading benefits.
§ Mr. CroslandThe non-Commonwealth countries included in the Commonwealth preference area are Burma, the Republic of South Africa, Western Samoa, and the Republic of Ireland.
§ Mr. WhitakerIn view of the considerable financial damage that the Republic of South Africa has done, and continues to do, to this country by torpedoeing the Rhodesian sanctions policy, why on earth should we continue giving Commonwealth preferences to it?
§ Mr. CroslandThe decision to maintain the trade agreement with South Africa was made when South Africa left the Commonwealth. It has been reiterated by myself and many other Ministers that the Government have no intention of altering the current trade agreement with South Africa.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterIs not trade with South Africa of the very greatest economic importance to this country and would it not be singularly foolish to damage that trade?
§ Mr. CroslandI have answered this and similar questions many times in the House and have constantly said that we have two obligations here. The first is to adhere rigidly to the arms ban laid down by the United Nations and the second is, within that policy, to encourage normal civilian trade.