§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the total value of (a) imports and (b) exports of silk and silk products into and from the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years; and what each of these figures is as a percentage of total textile imports and exports in each of those years.
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§ Mr. ChannonThe information is as follows:
United Kingdom Trade in Silk and Silk Products and Textiles £millions Imports(c.i.f.) Exports (f.o.b) Silk and Silk Products Textiles Silk per cent Silk and Silk Products Textiles Silk per cent 1978 8 1,541 0.5 4 1,411 0.3 1979 8 1,794 0.5 4 1,540 0.3 1980 8 1,636 0.5 6 1,567 0.4 1981 11 1,860 0.6 6 1,382 0.4 1982 14 2,036 0.7 7 1,379 0.5 1983 19 2,449 0.8 9 1,517 0.6 1984* 22 2,847 0.8 11 1,733 0.7 *Provisional Source:
Textiles
SITC/R2 Division 65, Groups 266 and 267. Sub-group 268.7 (part), and item 847.11 in the United Kingdom Overseas Trade Statistics.
Silk and Silk Products
SITC/R2 Sub-groups 651.1 and 654.1, items 654.99 tariff-code 5804-0500, 656.01 5805-2000, and 657.73 5917-2100 in the United Kingdom Overseas Trade Statistics.
Notes:
(i) These definitions for textiles and silk do not include items of clothing or raw materials. Silk and silk products included as part of other headings are also excluded.
(ii) Due to changes in classification between SITC/R1 and SITC/R2 in 1978 it is not possible to provide corresponding data prior to that date.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has concerning the value of the annual output of the silk and silk product industries in each of the other member countries of the European Community.
§ Mr. ChannonThe readily available information is in the table.
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Production* in the Silk Industry Millions of ECU s Federal Republic of Germany France Italy Belgium Ireland Denmark Exchange Rate ECUs to £ 1973 572 719 648 257 23 68 1.99 1974 641 909 695 273 25 74 1.96 1975 † 1,007 735 274 17 68 1.79 1976 558 826 881 362 17 82 1.61 1977 845 759 974 339 20 86 1.53 1978 883 753 1,052 356 21 64 1.51 1979 1,034 836 1,328 387 17 70 1.55 1980 982 826 1,345 412 † 89 1.67 1981 945 822 1,514 † † 98 1.81 * Production value (excluding VAT) † not available Source: Eurostat (CRONOS).
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has concerning the tonnage and value of tussah silk imported from China in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. ChannonTussah silk is not separately identified in the United Kingdom Overseas Trade Statistics.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton askedthe Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what regulations currently cover the import of tussah silk into the United Kingdom from China.
§ Mr. ChannonImports of certain woven fabrics of tussah silk from China are free of quantitative restrictions provided they are certified as such by the appropriate Chinese authorities. Such tussah silk fabrics are those containing not less than 50 per cent. weight of tussah silk and exceeding 585g per 10 square metres in the gum or 485g per 10 square metres degummed. All other silk fabrics exceeding 585g per 10 square metres in the gum or 485g per 10 square metres degummed are subject to a quantitative limit of 65 tonnes perannum from China, as provided by Council Decision 84/657/EEC of 18 December 1984.