§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will make a statement on the meeting between the Under-Secretary of State and representatives of the British Footwear Manufacturers' Federation on 6th December; and whether he can now say whether action will be taken by his Department regarding COMECON imports, unfair competition from developing countries, as outlined by the representatives, and Australian quota restrictions.
§ Mr. MeacherI met on 6th December representatives of the British Footwear Manufacturers, the Lancashire Footwear Manufacturers' Association, the National Union of Footwear, Leather and Allied 311W Trades, and the Rossendale Union of Boot, Shoe and Slipper Operatives. The representatives of the industry described in detail the present level of activity of the industry and urged that the Government take steps to restrain the growth in imports of certain types of footwear from Eastern European countries. I said that we were urgently considering with the Department of Trade the case that the industry had made and that I hoped that a decision could be reached very soon. We also discussed import competition from developing countries and the recently introduced Australian quota restrictions, and I described the action that the Government are taking.