asked the President of the Board of Trade the value of industrial and manufactured goods exported from this country to Russia, Poland and Czechoslovakia during the first quarter of this year; and the value of raw material exported during the same period to these countries from the sterling area.

Export statistics are not yet available for the March quarter, but in January and February, 1949, the value of the United Kingdom exports of "articles wholly or mainly manufactured" to the Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia amounted to £1,704,000, £674,000 and £866,000, respectively. As regards the second part of the Question, I regret that I am unable to supply the information desired as statistics received from Commonwealth and foreign countries are not sufficiently detailed or up to date.

Will the President of the Board of Trade bear in mind the importance of developing exports to Eastern Europe of manufactured goods rather than of raw materials for stocking-up purposes?

Is the hon. Gentleman able to say whether the imports we received from those countries were greater or less than the amount of our exports to them?

I could not say without notice, but I should be happy to give the hon. Member that information.

asked the President of the Board of Trade when he anticipates that the negotiations for a long-term trade agreement with Yugoslavia will be concluded.

These negotiations are still in progress and I cannot as yet say when they are likely to be concluded.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he takes to prevent the import of sadistic literature directed to the young from the United States of America and Canada.

If the hon. Member is referring to children's comics imported as supplements to newspapers, I would remind him that this is being done under an open general licence for newspapers which has been in operation since 1939. The importation of indecent or obscene literature is prohibited under Section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876.

Is the Minister aware that the Director of Public Prosecutions drew attention to this very serious matter a few weeks ago and that since then the Home Secretary has not been able to give an assurance that the Commissioner of Police is taking proper precautions in the matter; and as most of this literature is imported from America and Canada surely his Department could take some steps in the matter; and will he give it his immediate attention?

My right hon. Friend does not think that censorship should be one of his functions. On the other hand, I think it wrong to waste dollars on newspapers which are imported not for their news content but because they happen to have these comic supplements. I have seen a number of these journals myself and, while I do not think they are any more sadistic than the ordinary British comic, I do think they are pretty trashy.

Would it not be more helpful if we could get some good literature from the United States, which none of us can buy, instead of these things?

That is an entirely different matter.

Is not the Minister aware that apart from this stuff there is a mass of other appalling stuff that comes from America which could not possibly be classified as literature in any sense, and would he stop it from coming into this country?

Will the Minister at least try to use his influence to stop the magazine proprietors in this country from buying the rights of American stories, Anglicising those stories and presenting them to British readers as though they were the products of British writers, who are put out of work as a result of this disgraceful practice?

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the demands for British production of barium sulphate in connection with nuclear fission protection and for other purposes, he will take steps to co-ordinate the requirements of the Ministry of Supply, the Ministry of Works and the Board of Trade, together with any other interested Ministries for this commodity.

Supplies of barium sulphate, mainly from home sources, are sufficient to meet all requirements. It is possible, however, that the co-ordination of specifications for special Government needs would facilitate processing of the material, and the point is being pursued with the other Government Departments concerned.