§ Mr. Higginsasked the Minister for Trade if, in view of the Under-Secretary's statement in the Second Reading Committee on the Merchant Shipping Liner Conference Bill, Official Report, 28 April 1982, c. 38, that the Government were opposed to an extension of the cargo sharing principle to the bulk trade, he will oppose the recommendation made by the group of experts report to the Trade and Development Board of the United Nations conference on trade and development that importers and exporters of dry bulk cargoes should consider including a clause in the sales and purchase contracts that buyers and sellers mutually agree that ships owned or operated by shipowners in developing countries will be favourably considered subject to the rates, terms and conditions being accepted at the United Nations conference on trade and development and elsewhere.
§ Mr. Iain SproatThe Government strongly welcome the fact that the group of experts, to which my hon. Friend refers, did not conclude that cargo sharing in the dry bulk trades was either necessary or desirable. We endorse this view entirely. We could not accept cargo reservation in any bulk trades. The recommendation that developing country vessels should be favourably considered, subject to their rates, terms and conditions being acceptable, means only that developing country ships should be considered on the same basis as those of developed countries, and enjoy no higher consideration whatsoever, and does not carry any cargo sharing implications. The Government have not, therefore, opposed this recommendation. We have drawn it, together with the other recommendations of the group of experts, to the attention of the General Council of British Shipping and the British Shippers' Council.