§ Mr. OppenheimTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which products from(a) Poland, (b) East Germany, (c) Czechoslovakia, (d) Romania, (e) Bulgaria, (f) Hungary and (g) Yugoslavia are subject to any form of import restrictions, including quotas, voluntary restraint agreements and tariffs at either European Community or national level; and if he will set out details.
§ Mr. Redwood[holding answer 14 February 1990]: Details of the products which are subject to such restrictions are too numerous to set out in an answer. Most of them can be found in published sources which are available in the Library as follows:
Quantitative Restrictions
List of quantitative restrictions applied by one or more member states are covered by Annex III of Regulation 3420/83, which was last updated and published as Official Journal L217 of 6 August 1987. However, there are no quantitative restrictions on imports from Yugoslavia and on 1 January 1990, quantitative restrictions on imports to the EC from Poland and Hungary were liberalised or suspended. New arrangements for 1990 quotas are currently being considered by the EC Commission and are expected to be published shortly.Steel and Textiles
Bilaterally agreed arrangements in limiting steel and textile imports into the Community from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Yugoslavia are in place. Textile products which are specifically affected by these arrangements are set out in EC Regulations 768/88 (as published in EC Official Journal L84 of 29 March 1988) and 669/88 (covered by EC Official Journal L73 of 18 March 1989). Quotas are operated on ECSC steel products for the GDR under Commission Recommendation 77/328/ECSC. Details of product coverage were last published in British Business magazine of 5 May 1989 and in future will be published in Lloyds List International. Voluntary restraint arrangements which are negotiated annually with the other countries cover most ECSC products and are not published because they are commercially confidential.Leather Footwear
Although there are no formal United Kingdom quantitative restrictions on leather footwear from Eastern Europe, voluntary restraint arrangements have been negotiated by the EC Commission with Romania and Czechoslovakia on our behalf.Tariffs
The EC's 1990 general tariff rates for all products are set out in EC Official Journal L282/89 published on 2 October 1989. Most Favoured Nation rates apply to each of the countries listed except where special arrangements apply. Poland, Hungary and Romania are beneficiaries of the EC's Generalised Scheme of Preferences and products from these countries which benefit from GSP provisions are set in EC Official Journal L383/89 published on 30 December 1989.618WThe EC has signed a trade agreement with Yugoslavia which provides for preferential access to the EC market for a range of products from that country. Details of these arrangements for 1990 are covered in EC Official Journal L352 of 4 December 1989.Anti-Dumping Duties
Other EC anti-dumping measures involve the imposition of anti-dumping duties on the following products:
Product Chemicals Country Potassium Permanganate Czechoslovakia Copper Sulphate Yugoslavia, Bulgaria Light Sodium Carbonate Bulgaria, Romania Oxalic Acid Czechoslovakia Dinoseb Romania Welded Tubes of Iron or non-Alloy Steel Yugoslavia Sheets of Iron or non-Alloy Steel, Cold Rolled Yugoslavia Iron and Steel Sections Yugoslavia Iron or Steel Coils Yugoslavia Sheets and Plates of Iron or Steel Yugoslavia Synthetic Textiles Fibres of Polyester Romania, Yugoslavia Acrylic Fibres Romania Deep Freezers GDR, Yugoslavia Electric Motors Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary. Poland, Romania, GDR In addition the EC operates an anti-dumping voluntary restraint on imports of urea from Hungary, the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia.
Other Measures
Other customs restrictions are also applied to products from third countries by the United Kingdom and other Member States on health, safety and public policy grounds.