§ Sir G. Schusterasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the concern of the wool growers of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in regard to the definition of wool and woven wool cloth used in Board of Trade Orders; and whether he will reconsider the definition of wool as including fibre from the coat or fleece of alpaca, camel, goat, hare, llama, rabbit, sheep, vicuna, yak or horsehair and of woven wool cloth as meaning cloth of which the textile content comprises more than 15 per cent. by weight of wool.
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§ Mr. DaltonThe definitions of "wool" and "woven wool cloth" used in the Consumer Rationing Orders and in the Apparel and Textiles Orders are primarily designed to provide a line of demarcation between the products of what is generally known as the wool textile industry and the products of the other textile industries. They cannot, in present circumstances, be altered without causing serious disturbance to traders. I can, however, assure my hon. Friend that they are not intended to have permanent significance, nor, in my view, do they affect the meanings of the terms "wool" and "woollen" when used as trade descriptions for the purposes of the Merchandise Marks Acts. I am arranging for a note to this effect to be added, where necessary, in the Explanatory Notes to future Orders and in other Board of Trade publications in which the definitions occur.