§ Mr. C. Royleasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what recent discussions there have been on the question of Sea Island Cotton; and if he will make a statement on the present condition of that industry.
§ Mr. Iain Macleod,pursuant to his hon. Friend's reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 16th February, 1960; Vol. 617, c. 1116], supplied the following information:
A meeting in the Colonial Office last June, attended by the Federal Minister of Trade and Industry, the Governor of the Leeward Islands, the Ministerial representatives of most of the West Indian cotton producing territories, recommended that the Federal Government consider setting up an organisation through which all West Indian Sea Island cotton could be sold. This proposal was put forward by an observer of the Federal Government who attended the Annual Meeting of the West Indian Sea Island Cotton Association in December, and received its support. The Federal Government have now formally proposed to the Association the basis for an early discussion between representatives of the Federal Government, the territorial governments and the Association to work out the arrangements, and they are awaiting the Association's comments.
The Sea Island cotton industry is facing both agricultural and marketing problems. Costs of production are high as compared with other cottons, because of the necessity for long reaping periods, susceptibility to pests, the fact that weeding and reaping must be carried out 48W manually, and the low yields per acre as compared with other long staples. There has been a gradual shrinkage of the fine trade for which Sea Island cotton caters, due to competition from the growing variety of man-made fibres and from the better qualities of cheaper long staple cotton. United Kingdom spinners were no longer prepared to renew in 1959 an Agreement of 1957 by which they purchased the West Indian crop at prices annually negotiated within an agreed price range.
It is expected that the 1959–60 crop will be disposed of, although the new organisation in the West Indies to market Sea Island cotton will not be set up in time to deal with it.