§ 116. Mr. T. Reidasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies on what basis it was calculated that rubber can be produced in Malaya on average plantations in the near future profitably at an f.o.b. cost of is. 2d. a pound; and if planters with practical experience of rubber planting in Malaya agreed on the possibility of producing at this price and yet pay the reasonable wages for long insisted upon by the Malayan labour department.
§ Mr. George HallThe price of Is. 2d. has been agreed for six months only. The cost of rubber production varies greatly with the amount produced, but figures which I received from the Economic Adviser to the Governor of the Malayan Union seemed to indicate that the price of is. 2d. would not be entirely unreasonable during this period. The representatives of the plantation industry who were 183W associated with the negotiations, though they would naturally have liked a higher price, acquiesced in this view.
§ 117. Mr. J. Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what taxes are levied upon rubber exported from any part of Malaya; and whether the cess tax, which was imposed at the instigation of the late International Rubber Regulation Committee is still being collected on rubber exported; or if there is any other cess which is imposed.
§ Mr. George HallIn the Malayan Union there is a duty of four cents a pound on rubber exported. In Singapore, a rate is charged under the Rubber Estates Assessment Ordinance. The collection of the cess of ¼ cent per pound levied in connection with the International Rubber Regulation Scheme has been suspended. There is no other cess imposed on rubber.