§ 57. Mr. Roseasked the President of the Board of Trade why, in view of the crisis in the textile industry, all local authorities have been issued by the Government with a circular requiring them to treat European Free Trade Association produced goods on the same terms as British manufactured goods when deciding upon their purchases.
§ Mr. JayThe circular was issued in pursuance of the obligation placed on Member States by the Stockholm Convention to endeavour to ensure that all discrimination in the public sector against imports from other E.F.T.A. countries is eliminated. This is a general obligation unrelated to any particular kind of goods; and other E.F.T.A. countries must of course extend the same treatment to us.
§ Mr. Alisonasked the President of the Board of Trade what factors accounted for the 13 per cent, increase in imports of mainly capital goods during 1966 as compared with 1965, when the change in the value of capital expenditure by private manufacturers between 1965 and 1966 showed a 1 per cent. fall.
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§ Mr. JayThe increase in capital expenditure by manufacturers on plant and machinery between 1965 and 1966 was 6 per cent, at current prices. This increase is not directly comparable with the rise of 13 per cent, in the value of imports of mainly capital goods, as this latter figure includes imports for capital investment by non-manufacturing firms and those in the public sector. Imports of capital goods have grown faster than manufacturers' capital expenditure throughout the past decade. Other countries have also experienced a rapid increase in imports of capital goods. One factor is the growing international specialisation in the manufacture of machinery and equipment.
§ Mr. Beaneyasked the President of the Board of Trade what was the percentage increase in imports of manufactured goods into the European Economic Community from countries outside it between 1958 and 1965; and what were the figures for the European Free Trade Association and for the United States of America, Japan, Australia, India, Pakistan and Nigeria.
§ Mr. JayThe following is the information:
IMPORTS OF MANUFACTURED GOODS* INCREASES 1958–65 Imports into Per cent. European Economic Community, from countries outside it 132 European Free Trade Association†, from countries outside it 112 United States of America 134 Japan 181 Australia‡ 99 India 69 Pakistan§ 250 approx. Nigeria 72 * Manufactured goods are defined as Sections 5 to 8 inclusive of the Standard International Trade Classification (Revised), except in the case of Australia. For Australia a national classification is used, as figures based on the S.I.T.C. are not available for the earlier period. † Including Finland. ‡ The increase for Australia is between the fiscal years 1957–58 and 1964–65. § Estimated for 1958.
§ Mr. Robert Daviesasked the President of the Board of Trade what was the value and percentage of total British imports in 1960 and 1966, respectively, of imports of food, beverages and tobacco, basic materials, fuels, and manufactured goods, respectively.
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§ Mr. DarlingThe following is the information:
UNITED KINGDOM IMPORTS (C.I.F.) 1960 1966 £ million Per cent. of total £ million Per cent. of total TOTAL* … … 4,655 100.0 5,954 100.0 Food, beverages and tobacco† … … 1,540 33.1 1,714 28.8 Basic materials‡ … … 1,080 23.2 1,062 17.8 Fuels§ … … 480 10.3 627 10.5 Manufactured Goods║ … … 1,522 32.7 2,472 41.5 * Sections 0 to 9 of the Standard International Trade Classification (Revised). † Sections 0 and 1 of the Standard International Trade Classification (Revised). ‡Sections 2 and 4 of the Standard International Trade Classification (Revised). § Section 3 of the Standard International Trade Classification (Revised). ║ Sections 5 to 8 of the Standard International Trade (Classification (Revised).