HL Deb 13 October 1975 vol 364 cc636-7
Lord HALE

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the present position of the discussions between the EEC countries on the limitation of imports into the Community of cotton textiles and what decisions have been implemented.

Lord BESWICK

My Lords, the EEC has recently concluded bilateral restraint agreements on cotton and goods of other fibres with India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Macao. In the absence of any agreement being concluded with South Korea, emergency short-term restraints on sensitive items in various member States—including the United Kingdom—were taken by the EEC in August, but negotiations for a bilateral agreement with South Korea are still in progress. Negotiations will be held soon with Malaysia and Brazil and those with other low cost textile suppliers, mainly in Latin America and Eastern Europe, are expected to be arranged shortly. In the case of Taiwan, restraints have been imposed by the Community acting autonomously.

Lord HALE

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that I should sincerely like to thank him for his helpful Answer? But will he bear in mind that in the last few weeks another mill in Oldham has closed down and that the situation has been grave for a very long time? We were first told that no action could be taken, because of the Common Market. We were then told that action was being taken, because the Common Market had taken the initiative. We were told that an embargo had been put on goods from Taiwan—and it was done—and we were then told that it was withdrawn, because of complaints from traders. In political terms, I suppose that the situation would be called fluid, but the liquid is ebbing away and unemployment is serious. I am glad that action has been taken and I hope that it will be speeded up.

Lord BESWICK

My Lords, there has been this action. The difficulty here is that the underlying trade position is even worse than it was when the noble Lord first started to make his representations. We must all hope that trade generally throughout the world will soon begin to pick up.