HC Deb 12 June 1972 vol 838 cc228-30W
Mr. David Clark

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will list the value and amounts of the monthly imports of foreign made clothing since June, 1970;

(2) if he will list the principal countries of origin of imported clothing into Great Britain in 1970, 1971 and for the first three months of 1972, respectively.

Mr. Noble

Monthly and cumulative values of imports of clothing—that is, Division 84 of the Standard International Trade Classification (Revised)—in total and by countries, are given in Table II of the monthly "overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom"; as different units of quantity are used it is not meaningful to summarise the quantities of clothing imports as a whole.

Mr. David Clark

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will list the value and amount of the monthly imports of foreign made clothing made either partly or wholly of wool since June, 1970;

(2) if he will list the principal countries of origin of imported clothing composed wholly or partly of wool into Great Britain in 1970, 1971 and the first three months of 1972, respectively.

Mr. Noble

Clothing containing wool is not consistently distinguished in the overseas trade statistics. The following figures are totals of those items in Division 84 (Clothing) of the Guide to the Classification of the Overseas Trade Statistics for 1970 and 1971, 106 items, and 1972, 26 items, which specify a wool content. Because of the changes in classification the figures for 1972 are not comparable with those for 1970 and 1971. As different units of quantity are used it is not meaningful to summarise the quantities of these items.

£ thousands cif
1970
July 1,356
August 2,066
September 2,976
October 2,978
November 2,471
December 1,924
1971
January 1,703
February 1,981
March 1,937
April 1,629
May 1,514
June 2,003
July 2,418
August 2,761
September 3,615
October 3,310
November 2,491
December 1,729
1972
January 1,616
February 2,001
March 1,937
April 1,242

The principal supplying countries in 1972 were:

  • Hong Kong
  • Irish Republic
  • France
  • Switzerland
  • West Germany
  • Sweden

Similar information for 1970 and 1971 is not readily available.

Mr. David Clark

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the amounts and values of wool cloth imported into the United Kingdom each month since June, 1970.

Mr. Noble

The information for 1971 and 1972 is given under heading SITC(R) 653.2 in Table III of the monthly "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kindgom". Following is the information for July to December, 1970:

Square Yards £ thousands c.i.f.
July 1,488,114 715
August 1,333,872 643
September 1,378,237 654
October 1,587,845 744
November 1,121,598 552
December 940,929 499

Mr. David Clark

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the principal countries of origin of imported wool cloth into the United Kingdom in 1970, 1971 and the first three months of 1972, respectively.

Mr. Noble

The information is given following heading SITC(R) 653.2 in Table III of the December, 1970, December 1971, and March, 1972, issues of the "Overseas Trade Statistics".