§ Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade to what extent he is satisfied that the quota arrangements in relation to the import of cotton and man-made fibres and fabrics are not being evaded via Eire, Belgium, Portugal and other countries.
§ Mr. JayImports of fibres and fabrics containing less than 50 per cent. of cotton are not restricted. I am satisfied that in the case of cotton fabrics, which are subject to restriction, there is little scope for evasion via third countries.
§ Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the damage to the cotton and man-made fibre industry by the excessive proportion of the annual quotas being exported in a brief period of the year; and whether he will take steps to limit these to a maximum of 30 per cent. of each national quota in any one quarter.
§ Mr. JayNo. In recent months imports under quotas do not appear to have been unduly concentrated in any period.
§ Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade what study he has made of the provisions for import and export licences of cotton and man-made fibre exports provided in Eire, details of which 269W have been sent to him; and to what extent he will seek to introduce this system in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. JayI am not certain what detailed information my hon. Friend has in mind, but my understanding is that the Government of the Irish Republic rely, as we do, on quantitative restrictions to limit imports from low-cost countries. In addition, they allow manufacturers to import cloth from any source without payment of duty on condition that they place a certain proportion of their orders with domestic suppliers. We could not do the same without being in breach of our international obligations.