§ Mr. Holtasked the President of the Board of Trade to give separately the value of import duties on food imported into the United Kingdom in 1952 chargeable on a specific basis and an ad valorem basis; and the import value of such dutiable food.
Mr. P. ThomeycroftI am advised that the value of imported food which was entered for home consumption on payment of duty at ad valorem rates during the calendar year 1952 and the amount of duty charged at ad valorem and specific rates respectively were as follows:
he is making to prevent a repetition this year of the imports of vegetables exceeding the quotas, as has happened in recent years, notably in the case of cauliflowers.
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§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftThe Board of Trade announced on 15th July, 1952, that, as a result of an examination into the arrangements for operating the seasonal quotas for vegetables, certain improvements were being introduced to ensure that in future actual imports tally more closely with the quotas. The new arrangements provide for prompter and more accurate estimates of the volume of imports moving, for a more effective assessment of the quantity of goods in transit as the quotas near completion, and for speeding up the machinery for withdrawing licences. It is always difficult to achieve complete accuracy when dealing with seasonal and perishable produce, but I hope that in future these arrangements will secure a reasonable approximation between the quotas announced and the actual arrivals.
It will, of course, be understood that quotas may have to be varied for supply reasons. For example, although the import of cauliflowers had already reached the current quota and been discontinued earlier this month, we are now having to allow further imports from the 26th to 31st March, because the weather has held back home supplies of green vegetables and there would otherwise have been a shortage.