§ Lieut. - Colonel Bromley - Davenportasked the President of the Board of Trade why import licences have been issued for the importation of Czechoslovak manufactures into this country during a period when there has been no Anglo-Czech Trade Agreement in force; for what precise amounts these licences have been granted; and what conditions will apply to the imports as regards indications of their origin.
§ Mr. LowSome goods are admissible from Czechoslovakia under the Open General Licence or under Open Individual Licences because it is our policy to admit those goods freely either from all or from all non-dollar countries. Individual licences for specific imports have also been issued where applicants had satisfied the Board of Trade that there was a special need to obtain the goods from Czechoslovakia. The amount of goods imported under Open Licences is unrestricted; records of the licences issued on the basis of need are not kept in a form which makes it possible to state the amount of Czechoslovak goods licensed; in addition, licences to the value of £165,000 have been issued for the import of machine tools and certain other goods. These licences do not include conditions about the goods being marked with their country of origin since this matter is dealt with in separate legislation.