§ 70. Mr. T. Reidasked the President of the Board of Trade what relaxation of prohibition of British imports to the Argentine has occurred since the recent trade agreement was made.
§ Mr. BottomleyThe position is that goods are not admitted into the Argentine 165W without import licence except goods purchased on Government account which require authorisation by the Central Bank. Since the signature of the trade protocol on 23rd April, discussions have been taking place at the Mixed Consultative Committee in Buenos Aires. A very small quantity of United Kingdom goods is already being licensed, but we had hoped that by now the Argentine authorities would have felt able to issue a reasonable number of import licences for traditional United Kingdom exports. I understand, however, that the Argentine authorities are now engaged in the preparation of new import regulations in the light of the discussions at the Mixed Consultative Committee. I trust that these regulations will be issued soon and will produce an improvement in the situation.