§ Mr. WELLOCKasked the Home Secretary what amounts of the drugs covered by the Geneva Opium Convention of 1925 have been exported from this country since that Convention was ratified; and what measures are taken to ensure that such imported drugs will all be used for medical and scientific purposes only?
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSThe Convention only came into force at the end of September last, and I am not in a position to give the hon. Member the information he asks for in the first part of his question. The statistics of exports are compiled after the close of each year, and are made public in due course. Exports from this country require the sanction of my Department, and that sanction is not given except upon the production of an import certificate from the Government of the importing country or, in the absence of such a certificate, except after a very careful scrutiny of the application and only if the Department is satisfied that the consignment is desined for medical or scientific uses.