§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will introduce legislation to give statutory effect to the control of the import of gas appliances by means of the gas industry granting its "seal of approval" to imported appliances; and if he will list those provisions of EEC legislation which would exempt EEC countries from such control.
§ Mr. John SmithNo. I am not aware of evidence to justify the imposition of statutory safety standards for gas appliances, nor would a "seal of approval" extending beyond the safety aspects be an appropriate basis.
The British Gas Corporation's "seal of approval" is comprehensive but has no statutory backing. All gas appliances, whether of British or foreign make, sold through British Gas showrooms, or
276Wwith the estimated corresponding quantities in 1974 are shown below. In addition there were exports of these products and the figures of exports and net trade are also shown in the table. Separate refining output and trade data on derv are not available. It is not meaningful to relate these net movements directly to the quantities of motor spirit and derv consumed because of stock changes in crude oil and products. It is also not meaningful to express consumption of motor spirit or derv as a percentage of total imports because although part of motor spirit consumption is met by net imports, most motor spirit and all derv are produced from imported crude.
through authorised dealers, conform to BSI and British Gas Corporation's exacting requirements covering safety, performance and fitness for purpose.
An EEC directive concerning mutual trade in gas appliances complying with a common safety requirement is under consideration, but no such provisions are yet in force.