§ 77. Mr. Nicholsonasked the Minister of Food the latest figures for the allocation of grain to the various countries provisionally agreed upon by the Combined Food Board.
Sir B. Smith: Rice is the only grain which is formally allocated by the Combined Food Board. On 2nd May the Board released a Press statement regarding their recommendation for the distribution of rice during the second quarter of 1946. I propose to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
Wheat is not subject to formal allocation by the Combined Food Board. The constant changes in requirements and the uncertainties of supply make it necessary for exports from the main producing countries to he programmed on a month to month basis. This programme is undertaken in the light of discussions on the Cereals Committee in Washington. Full details regarding the quantities programmed to the different claimant countries have not yet been received from Washington, but I will endeavour to obtain them and communicate them to the hon. Member.
Following is the statement
The Combined Food Board has reached an agreed basis for the distribution of rice during the second quarter of 1946. Estimates of rice supplies available for allocation in 95W 1946 are still too tentative to permit a recommendation to be made for the full year at this time. The quantities indicated in the table below are intended merely to enable claimants to proceed with procurement and shipping arrangements during the April-June quarter, and will be revised as considered necessary by the Board. These quantities should not be interpreted as bearing any direct relationship to the total quantity of rice to be recommended for any claimant for the full calendar year. Countries controlling supplies are being urged by the Board to keep deliveries to claimants in line with the recommended allocation shares except for such substitutions of source as may be agreed by the operating agencies concerned in order to meet shipping and other problems. The Board recommended further that the appropriate national authorities make every effort to increase the amount of rice available for export from all sources. Essential world import requirements for rice during the April. June quarter, as submitted to the Board, 96W amount to approximately 2.1 million metric tons according to the Rice Committee of the Board, the quantity now indicated as being available for export from all sources is approximately 581,600 tons, as shown in the following table. Widespread crop failures, coming at a time when wartime strains had already reduced production substantially, have now given rise to a desperate situation. Widespread famine is threatened in many rice-eating areas of the world, notably China and South-East Asia, India and the Far East generally. Present estimates indicate exports of less than 1.5 million tons from Burma, Siam and French Indo-China in 1946, as compared with prewar exports of nearly 6 million tons. No allocations of rice have been recommended for European countries in order that all available supplies may be reserved for those areas where rice is the basic food. The requirements of the rice-importing areas in the western hemisphere have been scaled down to provide only for the subsistence of rice-eating populations.
Recommended allocation of rice second quarter of 1946
Country Recommended Allocation Source. India 146,000 Brazil 24,300 Burma 15,000 Siam 106,700 UNRRA (China) 100,000 U.S.A. 36,500 Chile 7,300 Siam 50 900 Argentina 4,000 Portuguese Guiana and Rice-eating populations Surinam 1,300 Ceylon 90,000 Brazil 48,000 Egypt 42,000 Malaya 69,000 Siam 57,000 Australia 12,000 Cuba 39,200 U.S.A. 18,100 Chile 2,900 Dominican Republic 8,200 Ecuador 10,000 Philippines 39,000 U.S.A. 27,200 Siam 11,800 Puerto Rico 25,400 U.S.A. Hong Kong 20,000 Siam Netherland East Indies 9,800 Siam Far East (British Military) 9,800 Siam Middle East 8,000 Egypt British Pacific Islands 3,000 Australia British West Indies 7,500 British Guiana Hawaii 5,700 U.S.A. Mauritius 4,900 Brazil 2,400 British Guiana 2,500 British Borneo 4,000 Siam Seychelles 300 Brazil Total 581,600 In addition to the 50,900 tons indicated for U.N.R.R.A. for China from Siam, the Board has recommended that there be made available the first 15,000 tons of any supplies becoming available for export from Siam over and above the presently estimated quantity of 270,000 tons for the second quarter. If these potentially available supplies from Siam are included, the total recommended allocation for China becomes 115,000 tons.