HC Deb 27 November 1962 vol 668 cc23-4W
47. Mrs. Slater

asked the President of the Board of Trade what consultation he had with the Pottery Manufacturers' Federation and the Society of Pottery Workers before or since the signing of the Japanese trade agreement.

49. Mr. Swingler

asked the President of the Board of Trade what consultations with the leaders of the pottery industry he has had before, during, or since the negotiation of the Anglo-Japanese trade agreement.

50. Dr. Stross

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he consulted the Pottery Workers' Society and the Pottery Manufacturers' Federation before the formulation of the trading agreement with Japan.

Mr. Green

My right hon. Friend discussed very fully the proposal to negotiate a Commercial Treaty with Japan at a meeting with pottery manufacturers in Stoke-on-Trent in April last year and again in London last March. Officials of my Department have been in close and frequent consultation on this subject with representatives of the British Pottery Manufacturers' Federation over the past two years and had a meeting with the Director of the Federation immediately after the publication of the Government White Paper on 14th November. There has been no direct consultation with the National Society of Pottery Workers.

51. Dr. Stross

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement amplifying what is meant by voluntary control of pottery exports from Japan to Great Britain after liberalisation takes place in January, 1968.

Mr. Green

The arrangement is that on the 1st January, 1968, control of imports by H.M. Government will be changed for control of exports by the Japanese Government, operated in accordance with the understandings set out in paragraph 10 of Cmnd. 1875.

Dr. Stross

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state as fully as possible what are the articles of traditional Japanese design which it is proposed shall, under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Commercial Treaty, be exempted from quota restriction.

Mr. Erroll

It has been agreed between the two Governments that the British and Japanese industries should consult together in order to determine what articles may properly be regarded as of traditional Japanese design.