§ Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give full details of the representations made to him by the ceramic industry regarding the state aid given by the Belgian Government to Boch S.A.; and what action his Department is taking to protect the interests of British ceramic sanitaryware manufacturers.
§ Mr. ChannonThe Council of British Ceramic Sanitaryware Manufacturers and others have made representations to my Department on a number of occasions about the damaging effects of imports of subsidised ceramic sanitaryware produced by Boch S.A.
We have repeatedly made clear to the Commission, whose responsibility it is to enforce the state aid provisions of the treaty, our concern about the deleterious effects of these subsidised imports on British manufacturers. Indeed I discussed this personally with Commissioner Sutherland in February and continue to press him for a satisfactory conclusion to this matter.