§ Mr. Winnickasked the Secretary of State for Trade what representations he has received over the import into the United Kingdom of fasteners ; how many fasteners were imported into the United Kingdom in 1977–78 and 1979; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ParkinsonWe are in contact with the British Industrial Fasteners Federation about a number of allegations of unfair competition from various overseas countries. Further details are awaited from the federation.
Details of imports of nuts, bolts and washers. screws, rivets, cotters, cotterpins and similar articles of iron and steel and of copper are published in table IV of the annual 1977 and 1978 editions and the December 1979 issue of the Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom. For 1977 they are given under SITC (Rev 1) Items 694.21 and 694.22, and from 1978 onwards under SITC (Rev 2) Items 69402 and 694.03, excluding 7415–2000. The descriptions appropriate to each individual eight-digit code number are set out in the "Guide to the Classification for Overseas Trade Statistics" for the relevant year. Copies of these publications are in the Library.
The total weight of these imports were :
1977 1978 Tonnes 1979 (i) of iron or steel 32,481 39,991 47,263 (ii) of copper 264 409 448 Corresponding information by numbers is not available for all the articles covered.