§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Trade what were the import and export figures for trade with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1979 and 1980; and what impact diamond trading had on the balance of trade.
§ Mr. ParkinsonThe figures are given below. Trade in precious stones, including diamonds, had a negligible impact on the overall balance.
272WMovements of precious stones through the United Kingdom for the purposes of sorting and valuation only are, with effect from 1 January 1981, excluded from the figures on visible trade as recorded by Customs for the overseas trade statistics. Hitherto, it has been necessary to make offsetting adjustments for this temporary trade when preparing the figures on visible trade in the balance of payments. The exclusion of these temporary movements affects, inter alia, precious stones originating in the USSR, and therefore imports from the USSR on the 1981 basis are lower than the figures published previously.
UK Trade with the USSR: Visible Trade £ million, 1981 basis Exports (fob) Imports(cif) 1979 416 492 1980 452 421 Source: Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics.