HC Deb 17 October 1945 vol 414 c1197W
Mr. Peter Freeman

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is taking special steps to encourage the manufacture of wool-pile and fibre materials in this country for ordinary wear in place of the furs imported from other countries, especially outside the sterling area.

Mr. Ellis Smith

The manufacture of imitation fur pile fabrics has increased during the war in response to an increase in the demand, and I have no doubt that cloth manufacturers will continue to produce women's over coatings of this kind in so far as the public prefer them to other types. The fur trade in this country is primarily an entrepot trade, and while I have recently been glad to give them facilities for restoring their trade by allowing the unrestricted import of undressed fur skins, I have made it clear that the bulk of the skins must be re-exported in order to show as large an exchange profit as possible for the trade as a whole.