81. Major Lloydasked the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of the timber has been received in this country from Soviet Russia since the signing of the agreement; how much this represents; and how much remains to be delivered.
§ Mr. BottomleyThe Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement signed 27th December, 1947, did not make specific mention of timber, but in 1948 timber contracts have been made covering some 27,000 standards of softwood and 9,000 cubic fathoms of pitprops from Soviet Russia. Some 15,000 standards of softwood and all the pitprops have been received in this country. Eleven thousand standards of softwood remain to be delivered.
§ Major Beamishasked the President of the Board of Trade what main types of timber are intended to be imported 30W into this country under the new £82 million agreement with five Eastern European countries; and how the price delivered to this country compares with the present maximum prices fixed for similar home-grown timber.
§ Mr. H. WilsonDiscussions between the countries concerned on a scheme for increasing timber exports from Eastern Europe are in progress, but no agreement has yet been reached.