§ Mr. RHYS DAVIESasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make it a condition of any renewal of the tin restriction scheme that no representative of Malaya or Nigeria on the International Tin Committee or on the Buffer Stock Committee shall have any personal interest in tin; and if he will report to the House whether any such representative or any official or unofficial member of the International Tin Committee has any personal tin interests?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERI will consider the suggestion, but it is premature to lay down conditions for renewal of a scheme which is in force until the end of 1936. The representatives of Malaya and Nigeria on the International Tin Committee are officials with no special financial interests in tin, but the representatives of the Netherlands East Indies and of Bolivia on the committee, who have been appointed by their respective Governments, include business men interested in tin production, while practically all the advisers who attend the committee are persons who are interested in the tin industry.
§ Mr. WILMOTasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any steps are taken by his Department to prevent representatives of the private tin pool who attend meetings of the International Tin Committee from making improper use of advance information of the decisions of that committee in regard to altering the quotas of production or selling the buffer stock?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERThe decisions of the committee regarding alterations of quotas are published immediately after the meeting, so no question of using advance information can arise. As regards the buffer stock, no question of selling has yet arisen.
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§ Mr. WILMOTasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the fact that the Malayan representatives on the International Tin Committee were ordered by the Colonial Office to support the inauguration of the tin buffer stock scheme in spite of the opposition of the Council of the Federated Malay States Chamber of Mines, the Singapore Chamber of Commerce, the Federated Malay States Chamber of Commerce, the Straits Settlements Association, the Selangor Miners' Association, and the London Metal Exchange, he will set up an inquiry into the working of the scheme; and whether any private speculative tin pools have been operated in conjunction with the buffer stock?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERThe buffer stock has not yet bought or sold any tin: it has merely collected tin from the contributing Governments in accordance with the scheme. There can, therefore, be no question of inquiring into its operation. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.
§ Mr. G. MACDONALDasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that, as a result of the present level of tin prices brought about by the operations of the tin restriction scheme, the Belgian Congo is producing 425 per cent. of its 1929 output, while Malaya and Nigeria are restricted to 40 per cent. of their output that year; and whether he will have the scheme reconsidered at the earliest opportunity?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERI am aware of the increased production of tin in the Belgian Congo and of the terms on which that territory has been admitted as a participant in the International Tin Control Scheme. The International Tin Committee, after full examination, considered it preferable to admit the Congo on these terms, rather than to contemplate wholly unrestrained production in that region. I have been informed by the chairman of the International Committee that the large increase in the Congo production was planned and arranged for at a time when tin prices were at the lowest levels of recent years. The control scheme expires in December, 1936, and the terms for its renewal will require careful consideration in due course. In order that the hon. Member's figures should be fairly appreciated,1136W I ought to add that if the whole of the Belgian output for 1934 could be completely suppressed it would not justify an increase of more than 2.8 per cent. in the quotas of the four signatory Governments.