asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that a person having a prescription for spectacles made up in the United States of America is forced to pay import duty on them even though they be urgently needed for that person's use; and if, in view of the delay in obtaining spectacles under the health scheme, he will alter the law in this respect.

I am advised by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health that the period of delay in supplying spectacles under the National Health Service is now rapidly decreasing; in these circumstances, an amendment of the law relating to the import duty on spectacles would not be justified.