§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, with a view to stimulating interest in the position of Anglo-Russian trade, he will cause to be published in a White Paper a list of foodstuffs and raw materials which the Soviet Government exported in the past and which it can in all probability export in the future.
§ Mr. H. WilsonThe latest detailed information of Soviet Union exports to all countries is in respect of the year 1937 and was given in the Accounts relating to Foreign Trade and Commerce, published by His Majesty's Stationery Office in 1938, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. The main items of foodstuffs and raw materials exported by the U.S.S.R. were wood and timber, wheat, petroleum products, undressed furskins, cotton tissues, ginned cotton, manganese ore, iron and steel, rye and barley. It is not possible to indicate what items are likely to be included in the future Soviet export programme, but, as my hon. Friend knows, the items in the Trade Agreement concluded with this country in December last were barley, maize and oats. Small quantities of raw cotton, timber, paper and canned fish were supplied last year. On private trade account, furskins, raw hair, bristles and Archangel tar are now being shipped, and it is hoped that there will be some more paper this year. The December Agreement provides that there shall be further discussions between the Governments of the United Kingdom and the U.S.S.R. in May, 1948, and among the possible additional exports from the Soviet Union mentioned in the Agreement are wheat, pulses, pit props, cellulose and canned goods.