§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYasked the President of the Board of Trade whether any difficulty is now experienced by British merchants and others in obtaining export licences from the French authorities for goods from the occupied areas of Germany contracted for after 1st February; and whether other difficulties placed in the way of the export of these goods have now been removed?
§ Viscount WOLMERGerman Government decrees forbid firms in Germany to apply for licences to the occupying authorities, and the French and Belgian concessions which permit of applications for licences being made by or on behalf of the purchasing firms in this country only extend to contracts concluded before 1st February. Even if this date were extended, and purchasing firms were permitted by the occupying authorities to apply for licences in respect of goods contracted for subsequently, the German Government decrees would not permit of the delivery to such firms of goods contracted for since 20th February, so that the exportation of such goods would in any case be impossible.