§ Mr. Grovesasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what proportion of the sugar imported into Great Britain from the British West Indian Colonies for the last financial year enjoyed additional preference under Section 1 of the Finance Act, 1934; and what was the value to the West Indian sugar producers of this preference for that year?
Mr. M. MacDonaldThe information asked for in the first part of the hon. Member's question is as follows:
The total imports of sugar into Great Britain from the British West Indian Colonies (including British Guiana) (luring the last financial year amounted o 338,800 tons, of which 31,600 tons enjoyed additional preference under Section 1 of the Finance Act, 1934.
There is, however, no relation between the amount of sugar which enjoyed the additional preference and the value to 54W the West Indian producers of that preference, since the certificates by means of which the additional preference is administered are transferable, on payment of their value, between colonial producers. The measure of value to producers in the West Indies of the additional preference during the last financial year was the amount of special preference certificates issued to those producers. The tonnage in respect of which such certificates were issued was 189,700 tons, and as the value of the certificate, whether it is used by the person to whom it is issued or sold to another Colonial producer, is in the region of £3 a ton, the total value of the certificates issued to West Indian producers was in the region of £569,100.