§ Mr. Grovesasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware of the inconvenience caused to retail shopkeepers inasmuch as there are 52 categories of sardines on the market; that at a recent prosecution at Southend for exceeding the maximum, a representative of the food control committee was handed 12 tins and had to measure them separately by a paper chart; and whether he can introduce some scheme of co-ordination whereby these mistakes can be avoided?
Major Lloyd GeorgeThe operation of the Sardines (Maximum Prices) Order may have caused some inconvenience owing to difficulty in identifying the large variety of containers in use, but it was clearly necessary for the Order to be comprehensive in this respect. The chart to which my hon. Friend refers was prepared as a ready means of identification and it is understood to have proved quite476W satisfactory for this purpose. Future importations of canned sardines will be restricted to five sizes, and the price Order can be simplified as soon as stocks already in the country have been disposed of.