asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the quota of bulb corms and tubers to be imported during 1952.

The quota has not yet been decided. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that, immediately following his cancellation of the open general licence for the importation of bulbs, corms and rhizomes, the Dutch exporters wrote to importers and other buyers in this country asking them to send in all further orders immediately, back-dated to the week prior to the cancellation of the open general licence; and what steps he proposes to take to deal with this calculated evasion of his order.

Yes, Sir. A number of importers have informed the Board of Trade that Dutch exporters have written to them in this sense. I have given instructions that applications for licences to import bulbs against outstanding contracts should be examined with particular care, and that no licences should be issued until further notice for autumn deliveries. By the end of March, however, applications to import bulbs for spring delivery amounted to only £44,000, which does not appear to be an excessive figure, considering that imports last year exceeded £4 million. Any person who makes any false statement, or furnishes any document or information false in a material particular, for the purpose of obtaining an import licence is, of course, liable to heavy penalties.