§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list in the OFFICIAL REPORT the number of organisations and individuals who made representations on the desirability of origin marking in pottery manufacture.
§ Mr. RidleyI have received such representations from three trade associations representing British pottery manufacturers and from the managing directors of two individual firms.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list in the OFFICIAL REPORT the results of the Gallup Poll on country of origin research, which was sent to him by the Ceramic Manufacturers Federation: and if he will make a statement on his policy in the light of the poll, particularly so far as the question of replacements is concerned.
§ Mr. RidleyNo. It is for those who commissioned the Gallup Poll to publish its results. But I should welcome, in the interest of consumers, any reliable indication of the availability of replacements that sellers of china could give.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made, in his consideration of
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APPLICATIONS TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY FOR NEW ORIGIN MARKING ORDER (i) Applications rejected Applicants Goods Furnishing Fabric Manufacturers Association … Furnishing fabrics British Toy Manufacturers Association … Toys British Footwear Manufacturers Federation … Footwear British Clock & Watch Manufacturers Association … Clocks and watches British Leather Goods Manufacturers' Association … Leather goods and watch straps The Gun Trade Association Ltd. … Firearms Imperial Metal Industries Ltd. … Sporting cartridge cases (ii) Applications under consideration or reconsideration Applicants Goods The British Brush Manufacturers Association … Brushes Federation of British Hand Tool Manufacturers … Hand tools The Shirt, Collar & Tie Manufacturers Association … Shirts and pyjamas U.K. Cutlery & Silverware Manufacturers Association … Cutlery Knitting Industries Federation Ltd. & Scottish Knitwear Council Knitted goods British Pottery Manufacturers Federation … Domestic pottery Council of British Ceramic Sanitary Ware Manufacturers … Ceramic sanitary ware British Ceramic Tile Council … Glazed tiles Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Electrical Appliances … Electrical appliances Society of British Match Manufacturers … Matches Federation of British Manufacturers of Sports and Games Ltd. … Sports goods Chas. F. Thackray Ltd. … Surgical instruments The Overall Manufacturers Association of Great Britain … Overalls National Association of Glove Manufacturers … Gloves Branded Hand Knitting Association Ltd … Hand knitting and rug yarns The Hard Fibre Cordage Institute … Cordage Wool Textile Delegation … Woven cloth and woven garments marking orders, of the percentage increase in the retail prices of domestic table and ornamental ware, ceramic wall and floor tiles, and sanitary ware, if he were to make an order enforcing origin marking for these goods.
§ Mr. RidleyNo such estimate is practicable. But there would inevitably be some increase in indirect costs.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken to inform retailers that they are in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act if they misinform a customer about the country of origin of the goods being sold.
§ Mr. RidleyThe Act continued a longstanding prohibition of misdescription of the origin of goods and extended it to oral statements. Its provisions have been given wide publicity by the Department, retailers' own associations and the Press, but the onus is on the shopkeeper to know the law.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list in the OFFICIAL REPORT the requests he has received for origin marking orders for consumer goods, other than food, stating which he has rejected and which are still under consideration.