§ Mr. Brandon-BravoTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if, in the light of the report by the trading standards sub-committee of Nottinghamshire county council, dated 16 November 1987, submitted to his office on 13 January, if he will indicate what steps his Department will take to protect the textile trade from unfair competition and loss of value to consumers by false labelling of goods, with particular reference to garments labelled as wool, and found to be either deficient or containing no wool at all.
§ Mr. MaudeI have noted the recent report of the trading standards sub-committee of the Nottinghamshire county council. Enforcement of United Kingdom legislation governing fibre content labelling of textile products rests, as does much other consumer protection legislation, with individual local authorities. I know, however that the EC Commission has been investigating whether there are particular problems concerning the importation of fabric with overstated wool content. It has not yet announced the outcome.