HC Deb 12 July 1994 vol 246 cc509-10W
Mr. Duncan

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) when he expects to be able to renegotiate the size of the United Kingdom's EC quota for the import of silk and silk products from China;

(2) what representations he has received about the size of the United Kingdom's EC quota for the import of silk and silk products from China;

(3) what plans he has to increase the size of the United Kingdom's EC quota for the imports of silk and silk products from China;

(4) what percentage of the EC's imports of silk arid silk products from China is allocated to the United Kingdom.

Mr. Needham

The silk quotas are set and allocated on an EC-wide basis: no member state has a pre-determined share. Traditional silk importers throughout the EC receive an allocation based on a percentage of their trade in 1992, while newcomers receive a small fixed amount. Following over 2,000 complaints about the quotas from United Kingdom traders, the Government have been pressing hard for an increase in the levels for this year and the Commission is expected to make a proposal to this effect shortly. For 1995, the Commission has already opened negotiations with China for a bilateral agreement on silk imports as part of which the Government will be looking for a significant increase in future access levels.