§ Mr. Fordasked the Secretary of State for Trade, in view of the fact that imports of worsted and woollen fabrics from Argentina have increased from a total of approximately 28,000 square metres in 1976 to a total of 552,000 square metres in the first 10 months of 1977, if he will take measures to limit these imports which are causing redundancy in the British wool textile industry.
§ Mr. MeacherThe new bilateral restraint agreement recently initialled by the EEC and Argentina provides for the introduction of restrictions on worsted and woollen fabrics when imports into the EEC or a member state in 1978 reach a level of 4 per cent. of 1977 imports from third countries. Imports will therefore be very closely monitored. If the industry has any evidence that Argentine exports are being subsidised it should in the first instance contact its sponsoring division in the Department of Industry.
330Wtry, particularly the low level of import penetration, is not sufficient to warrant a full investigation.
We are keeping the Commission informed of the trend of imports with a view to demonstrating more significant injury.
§ Mr. Stanleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the volume of imports of toilet tissue from Spain in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what percentage penetration of the United Kingdom market this represented each month.
§ Mr. MeacherImports of toilet paper from Spain were as follows over the past 12 months:
quarterly only and for the most recent periods was as follows: