§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) to what extent the import and export volume and unit value for passenger motor cars have been affected by a change in the pattern of trade in cars and by changes in trade classification since (a) 1975 and (b) 1970;
(2) to what extent the import and export volume and unit value figures for trade in chemicals have been affected by changes in the pattern of trade and in classification since (a) 1975 and (b) 1970.
§ Mr. ParkinsonSince 1970 changes of this kind have been made on two occasions. In October 1973 the series based on 1961 were updated to 1970. Then, in February 1978, the 1970 series were rebased on to 1975; at the same time, the statistics were reclassified on to Standard International Trade Classification (revision 2).
Such information as is readily available to answer these questions relates solely to the overall effect of rebasing—including improvements in methodology—and reclassification. However, the impact of the latter is generally small.
654Wnational Development Association contributed, or proposed in the case of the sixth replenishment, by the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Japan, Germany and France; and if he will express the United Kingdom contribution to each in real terms, taking the fourth replenishment as the base line for calculation.
§ Mr. Neil MartenThe information is given in the following table:
Index numbers for passenger motor cars were not separately compiled as part of the 1961-based and 1970-based series. For chemicals, figures showing the overall impact of these changes have been given in articles describing the rebasing exercises and published in Economic Trends. For rebasing on 1970, the information can be found in pages 102 and 103 of the April 1975 issue; for rebasing on 1975, in pages 115 and 116 of the September 1979 issue.