HC Deb 05 March 1962 vol 655 cc13-5W
64. Sir W. Bromley-Davenport

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the continued damaging effects on egg producers of the unrestricted dumping

— Eggs in hell Eggs not in shell
Great hundreds* £000 Tons £000
12 months ended 31st January, 1961 897,187 886 535 271
12 months ended 31st January, 1962 1,644,859 1,662 1,625 564
* A "great hundred" is the trade term for 120 eggs.

of Polish and foreign eggs into this country; and whether he will make it clear to the Governments of the countries from which these eggs are imported that action will inevitably have to be taken to curtail such imports if they continue on the present scale.

Sir K. Joseph

On 9th February, the Egg Marketing Board, supported by the National Farmers' Union, submitted an application to the Board of Trade for the imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of frozen eggs from Poland and China in the egg year beginning April, 1962. They claim that these imports would be dumped in such quantities as to threaten the British industry with material injury.

According to immediate inquiries we made, imports of frozen eggs from either country are likely to be less than half the amount forecast by the Egg Marketing Board. My right hon. Friend is urgently considering the Egg Marketing Board's application in the light of these revised figures.

He is also examining urgently a further application put in by the Board on 27th February in respect of shell eggs from Poland. No suggestion has been made to us that British egg producers are threatened with material injury by the current level of imports of frozen or shell eggs.

Mr. Farr

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the total importation of Polish eggs, and the total importation of all eggs, in the twelve months to the latest available date; and what were the corresponding figures for the previous twelve months.

Mr. Erroll

Details of our total imports of all eggs are available from the Trade and Navigation Accounts. Details of imports from Poland are as follows:

Mr. Farr

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) if an application to impose anti-dumping duties on imported Polish eggs has been received from the Egg Marketing Board;

(2) what action he is taking to impose anti-dumping duties on imported Polish eggs.

Mr. Erroll

On 9th February the British Egg Marketing Board supported by the National Farmers' Union submitted an application to the Board of Trade for the imposition of antidumping duties on the ground that there was a threat of material injury to British producers during the egg year April, 1962—March, 1963, from imports at dumped prices of frozen eggs from Poland and also from China. The Polish authorities have informed the Board of Trade that their exports of frozen eggs to Britain are likely to be less than half the figure forecast by the Egg Marketing Board. This application is being considered urgently in the light of this information. I am also considering a further application submitted on 27th February that dumped imports of shell eggs from Poland threaten material injury to the British producers.