§ Mr. J. Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what safeguards have been devised to protect the West African marketing boards in the event of the United States release of its large cotton reserves and the United Kingdom's disposal of its stocks of oil seeds.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe United States Government have undertaken that, in carrying out their export programme, they will avoid disrupting world market prices and impairing the traditional competitive position of friendly countries. In spite of substantial and continuing sales under the U.S. export programme announced in February, world cotton prices are at present firm and are indeed showing an upward tendency. Her Majesty's Government, who are concerned to protect the interests both of producers in Colonial Territories and of consumers in the United Kingdom, will continue to watch closely the progress of the U.S. Government's cotton export programme.
Her Majesty's Government have recently disposed of stocks of groundnuts and palm kernels by methods which were acceptable to the Colonial Governments concerned. The price of neither commodity appeared to suffer as a result of the disposals.