§ Mr. Brayasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list details of all trade agreements affecting the import of footwear which have been 355W finalised in each of the five years to 31st December, 1971, and indicate the value and volume of footwear imports from the respective countries in each of these years.
§ Mr. NobleI would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to his
Value Quota Import Quota Description £ Poland 19672–70 … … Rubber footwear … … … … … … … 75,000 1971 … … Footwear wholly of rubber or with uppers mainly of rubber.Footwear with rubber soles and textile uppers … … 75,000 East Germany 1967 … … Footwear, other than of rubber … … … … 10,000 1968–69 … … Footwear, other than of rubber … … … … 25,000 Hungary 1967–68 … … Rubber footwear … … … … … … … 55,000 1969–70 … … Rubber footwear … … … … … … … 75,000 1971 … … Footwear wholly of rubber or with uppers mainly of rubber. Footwear with rubber soles and textile uppers … … 85,000 Czechoslovakia 1967 … … Rubber footwear … … … … … … … 60,000 Carpet slippers with rubber soles and textile uppers … … 20,000 1968 … … Rubber footwear … … … … … … … 45,000 Carpet slippers with rubber soles and textile uppers … … 15,000 1969–70 … … Rubber footwear … … … … … … … 60,000 Carpet slippers with rubber soles and textile uppers … … 20,000 1971 … … Footwear wholly of rubber or with uppers mainly of rubber. Footwear with rubber soles and textile uppers … … 70,000 Carpet slippers with rubber soles and textile uppers … … 18,000 Bulgaria 1967–70 … … Rubber footwear … … … … … … … 30,000 1971 … … Footwear wholly of rubber or with uppers mainly of rubber. Footwear with rubber soles and textile uppers … … 30,000 Romania 1967–68 … … Footwear with uppers of leather … … … … 700,000 1968–69 … … Footwear with uppers of leather … … … … 800,000 U.S.S.R. 1967 … … Rubber footwear … … … … … … … 15,000 1968 … … Rubber footwear … … … … … … … 20,000 People's Republic of China 1967 … … Footwear … … … … … … … … 100,000 1968 … … Footwear, other than entirely of raffia, straw, twine or rope 100,000 1969–71 … … Footwear, other than entirely of raffia, straw, twine or rope 110,000
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United Kingdom imports of footwear from these countries in each of the last five years were as follows: 1967 7965 1969 Pairs £ Pairs £ Pairs £ Poland … … … 1,267,238 758,474 1,428,644 986,410 1,308,857 965,212 East Germany … … 11,512 6,517 15,108 9,959 30,728 22,795 Hungary … … … 580,929 413,340 569,335 428,230 348,910 304,233 Czechoslovakia … … 909,133 592,351 797,907 596,439 887,594 754,303 Bulgaria … … … 39,324 12,875 16,810 5,148 58,446 17,929 Romania … … … 719,394 496,416 830,007 658,777 791,187 655,330 U.S.S.R … … … 62,423 72,205 39,089 73,205 49,232 88,156 People's Republic of China 257,802 132,494 114,983 40,144 221,150 59,718 Question on 24th April, 1972, on trade agreements providing for the import of footwear.—[Vol. 835, c. 184–5.]
Details of quotas established in each of the last five years for imports of certain footwear from certain Eastern Area countries are as follows.
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1970 1971 Pairs £ Pairs £ Poland … … … 1,911,000 1,480,257 2,483,000 2,015,623 East Germany … … 160,000 126,097 569,000 469,911 Hungary … … … 412,000 432,770 180,000 282,441 Czechoslovakia … … 990,000 1,001,111 1,387,000 1,436,929 Bulgaria … … … 63,000 18,504 34,000 10,474 Romania … … … 858,000 819,861 1,267,000 1,370,255 U.S.S.R … … … 28,000 63,739 19,000 37,422 People's Republic of China 19,000 12,312 387,000 131,029 * Footwear with outer soles of rubber, artificial plastic materials, leather or composition leather (SITC(R)85101. 85102). Figures include items of footwear not subject to quantitative control.
§ Mr. Brayasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the foreign and Commonwealth countries from which footwear may be imported free of quota and the tariffs which may be applicable to the respective countries; and whether footwear is specifically mentioned in any of the trading arrangements the United Kingdom has with these countries for either export or import.
§ Mr. NobleFootwear can be imported without restriction from all Commonwealth countries and also from all foreign countries except those comprising the Eastern Area. Imports from EFTA countries, the Irish Republic and developing countries benefiting from the United Kingdom's generalised system of tariff preferences are eligible for a nil rate of import duty. Commonwealth Preference Area rates on footwear are also nil in most cases. Imports from all other sources are dutiable at rates ranging from 4p to 20p per pair or 5 to 10 per cent.ad valorem. Our trade relations with most of these countries are subject to the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the European Free Trade Area Convention and the Angla-Irish Free Trade Association Agreement. Apart from detailed schedules for origin rules and duty rates in the Anglo-Irish Agreement, there are no specific references to footwear in these agreements.