Mr. De la Bèreasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether, in view of the fact that confectionery and chocolate are about to come under the points scheme of rationing, he will take steps to limit the supplies to bona fide confectioners whose living almost entirely depends on the sale of these goods and that supplies should not be made available to those who have not sold these goods prior to the outbreak of the war?
§ Mr. MabaneWhile I am not yet clear what my hon. Friend has in mind, chocolate and confectionery sales will be permitted only by retailers holding retail confectionery licences, and licences will not normally be granted to those not already holding them. Supplies have for a long time been distributed by the industry, broadly, on the basis of pre-war purchases, adjusted for movements of population. Under the Sugar Confectionery and Chocolate and Chocolate Confectionery (Special Reserve Stocks) Order, 1942, supplies are required to be delivered to distributors until the commencement of rationing in proportion to1390W deliveries since 1st January, 1942; and it is contemplated that this will be continued for a further introductory period.