HC Deb 09 November 1953 vol 520 c16W
66. Mr. Murray

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that vegetables are permitted to be imported from the Irish Republic free of duty, and at the same time imports of vegetables from the United Kingdom into the Irish Republic are subject to a relatively high scale of import duties; why there is such a lack of reciprocity in these arrangements; and what action he is taking in this matter.

Mr. Amory

Yes. Trade relations between the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic are governed by the Trade Agreement of 1938, as amended in 1948, under which we receive important advantages in exchange for the preferences and the duty-free treatment we give to imports from the Republic. Taking this Trade Agreement as a whole, there is no lack of reciprocity.