§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Southend, East of 17 May, Official Report, c. 56, when the Foreign and Commonwealth Office commenced the practice of authenticating signatures on negative certificates of origin; and if the decision to extend the practice of authenticating signatures on export documents to negative certificates of origin was communicated to chambers of commerce and other commercial bodies.
§ Mr. HurdDuring the period of the Arab boycott the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have continued their already existing practice of authenticating without exception, at the request of British exporters, the signatures of chamber of commerce officials and notaries public appended to all classes of export document. Chambers of commerce and other commercial bodies have always been aware that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office provide a comprehensive service in the processing of all export documents, including negative certificates of origin.