§ 7. Sir H. Butcherasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will now indicate the tonnage of potatoes in respect of which he proposes to issue import licences.
§ Sir D. EcclesThe licences will not impose a limit on the tonnage which can be imported but they will be revoked when imports are no longer necessary.
§ 8 and 9. Sir H. Butcherasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether when issuing licences for the importation of potatoes, he will impose a condition that the potatoes imported shall be household varieties, and not potatoes produced for industrial purposes;
(2) whether having regard to the fact that British growers are required to dress potatoes for household consumption to a 1½ inch riddle, he will take steps to ensure that all imported potatoes are sufficiently large to conform to similar requirements.
§ Sir D. EcclesNo. The choice of variety and size of potatoes to be imported is best left to the trade. In any case, I am advised that there would be144W serious practical difficulties in imposing the conditions suggested by my hon. Friend.