Colonel Arthur Evansasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether the estimates of requirements of sugar by consuming countries for any quota year ending 31st August, made by the Statistical Committee of the International Sugar Council are estimates of the quantity of sugar required to arrive in consuming countries within that year; and whether the export quotas fixed by that council mean the quantity of sugar which may be exported from the countries of production during the same year for the purpose of filling those requirements;
(2) how an increase of export quotas can remedy the present situation in which towards the end of a quota year the estimated requirements of sugar-consuming 447W countries are found to be too low, if producers need not and possibly cannot ship their sugar until, say, July or August, especially if some of the available sugar from Java, Mauritius, Australia and Fiji is from six to eight weeks distant from the country requiring it?
§ Mr. R. S. HudsonThe estimates of requirements made by the International Sugar Council relate to requirements for arrival in the quota year, while the quotas relate to amounts for shipment in the quota year. My hon. and gallant Friend will realise that, taking any quota year by itself, there will always be at the beginning an overlap of supplies from the previous year and at the end a balance of estimated requirements, supplies for which are still on the water.