§ 66. Mr. Russellasked the President of the Board of Trade what objections have, been made to Her Majesty's Government by the Inter-Sessional Committee of the 8W permanent organisation set up under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to the import restrictions announced last November; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HopkinsonI presume that my hon. Friend is referring to the temporaryad hoc Committee appointed by the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade at their session in October last to consider matters arising between then and their next session.
The General Agreement permits the use of import restrictions to safeguard the balance of payments, but provides that new import restrictions shall in certain circumstances be the subject of consultations with the contracting parties. At a meeting in January, the Inter-Sessional Committee discussed whether, under the terms of the Agreement, the contracting parties should invite us to consult with them about the import cuts which we made in November. It was agreed that a decision on this point should be deferred. If such consultations were to take place, they would not be concerned with whether the import cuts themselves are permissible under the Agreement. Their scope would be limited to an assessment of their effect on other countries.
§ 67. Mr. Jayasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the heavy increases in the volume of manufactured goods imported into the United Kingdom last year, largely from Europe, and the continued losses of gold from the sterling area central reserve to the European Payments Union, he will place further restrictions on imports of the less necessary manufactured goods.
§ Mr. HopkinsonNo.