§ Lieut.-Colonel WILLEYasked the Home Secretary if, in view of the refusal of the international Conference to agree to the imposition of restrictions on the free importation and consumption of certain scheduled wool fibres, he will contemplate the suspension of such restrictions in this country until the moment when international agreement has been come to which will relieve this country from its present disadvantageous position; if he aware that the cost of treatment at present being compulsorily imposed at the newly-established Government disinfecting station is so large, in ratio to the current value of the fibre at the point of shipment, that further shipments have been virtually suspended; and that this has the effect not only of withholding from machinery in this country a valuable source of raw material supply which hitherto contributed largely to our exports of semi-manufactured and manufactured articles, but also of reducing employment?
§ Mr. SHORTTThe suspension of the present restrictions would not, I am advised, materially help to relieve the trade situation in this country. According to my information, the falling off in the imports of scheduled materials is due mainly to the general depression in the wool trade and to the existence of a large Stock of alternative supplies, and I have no reason to believe that the charge for disinfection is, at present at any rate, a factor of importance in the situation. As the hon. and gallant Member will be aware, there has been a similar falling off in the imports of other dangerous materials, such as East Indian wool, which are not at present required to be disinfected. Further, the closing of the station at the present time would, I believe, seriously prejudice the prospect of an International Convention. As I explained in the reply to a previous question by the hon. and gallant Member, an International Advisory Committee is being set up to study the question of universal compulsory disinfection for 699W dangerous materials, and it has been decided that the Committee shall meet in this country so as to be in a position to examine the arrangements in force at Liverpool in situ. I am therefore not prepared to suspend the present restrictions on the grounds suggested in the question. The question of closing the station temporarily has, however, had to be considered on other grounds. Owing to the falling off of supplies and other circumstances, the station has been working at a loss. The position has been under serious consideration for some time, and I have now decided, on the recommendation of the Geddes Committee, that the station shall be maintained in operation on its present basis for six months and then closed temporarily, unless by that time it is found possible, through an increase of revenue from fees or by means of a subsidy from the trade, to meet the current expenditure and make some provision, at any rate, towards the recovery of capital charges.