§ Mr. Roebuckasked the President of the Board of Trade whether New Zealand gives British exports to her market greater tariff preferences than are required by trade agreements; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JayUnder the Trade Agreement of 1959, New Zealand undertook to accord minimum margins of preference, varying between 5 per cent. and 10 per cent., on some 85 per cent. of British exports. The 1966 Trade Agreement increased the minimum margins on items which accounted for some £6½ million of our exports in 1964–65, in some cases to 20 per cent.
In practice we enjoy in many cases preferences considerably higher than the contractual minima; the average margin of preference was estimated to be about 20 per cent. in 1961 and there is no reason to suppose that it has changed significantly since.