§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade what quantities of trousers, blouses and dresses were imported from Cyprus in 1975, 1976, 1977 and to the latest convenient date in 1978; and what percentage of the United Kingdom market this represents.
§ Mr. MeacherThe number of trousers—including jeans—blouses and dresses, both woven and knitted, imported from Cyprus, and their estimated shares of the respective United Kingdom market were:
Number in thousands Estimated share of United Kingdom market Per cent. Trousers (including leans) 1975 20.9 * 1976 54.4 0.1 1977 253.7 0.3 First Quarter 1978 68.8 0.3 Blouses 1975 1.1 * 1976 13.2 * 1977 98.9 0.3 First Quarter 1978 68.1 0.5 Dresses 1975 1.5 * 1976 45.4 0.1 1977 160.4 0.4 First Quarter 1978 139.1 1.3 * Less than 0.1 per cent. The United Kingdom market is defined as total sales by United Kingdom manufacturers, employing 25 or more people, less exports plus imports.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on the current position of 476W textiles and clothing products in the Tokyo round discussions.
§ Mr. MeacherThe statement on the current status of the Tokyo round negotiations, agreed by the major trading nations in Geneva on 13th July, noted that in some important sectors further tariff negotiations were required. This includes the textile and clothing sectors where the Community is seeking a substantial improvement in the initial American offer on a number of products—in particular the very high import duty or woven wool cloth—and reductions in the excessively high tariffs imposed in this sector by the more advanced developing countries.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade what draft EEC directives are known to be in the pipeline which will affect the United Kingdom textile and clothing industries.
§ Mr. MeacherA number of issues affecting imports of textiles and clothing from in particular Mediterranean suppliers are at present under discussion within the EEC. It is not yet clear whether any of these will require Community legislation.
As regards issues other than imports, I am not aware of any draft EEC directives which would be of particular concern to the textile and clothing industries.