§ 69. Sir W. Smithersasked the Minister of Food what was the tonnage imports of brisling in the 1949–50 season; and from which countries it was imported.
§ Mr. WebbFollowing is the information; 3,048 tons, comprising, 1,210 tons from Denmark; 43 tons from Eire; 559 tons from Holland; 531 tons from Norway; 705 tons from Sweden.
§ 79. Sir W. Smithersasked the Minister of Food, in view of the fact that 1,170 tons of canned brisling were imported from Denmark during 1950, all of which has been made available to distributors, if he will state to what extent distributors took advantage of this availability; and how many tons were sold or distributed to the public, and what happened to the balance.
§ Mr. WebbTo give this information would disclose the stock held, which would not be in the public interest.
§ Mr. Gammansasked the Minister of Food what quantities of salted shark hides and quick frozen crawfish tails have been imported by him from the Atlantic Fisheries project financed by the Colonial Development Corporation; and what are 166W the estimated imports from this source for 1951.
§ Sir W. Smithersasked the Minister of Food how the unsold balance of 162 million tins of canned fish was disposed of; and why 9,004,000 tins of brisling were returned to Norway, whence they originally came; and what was the loss on the unsold balance, including shipping and insurance.
§ Mr. WebbThe figure of 162 million tins mentioned by the hon. Member represents my Department's total purchases from European countries in 1949 and 1950; and the "unsold balance" of this total represents my Department's stocks. Stocks of brisling are being cleared as quickly as possible so as to allow the resumption of private trade, and this was the reason for the resale to Norway. Until stocks are cleared I cannot say what the financial result will be.