asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will publish in the Official Report a list of trans-national commercial postage rates currently being charged by each of the postal authorities in the member States of the EEC; and if he will make a statement on the effect of these differentials on British firms involved in large scale commercial mailing within the EEC.
The information is given in Col. 437–38.
| PERCENTAGE INCREASE (OR DECREASE) IN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION FOR THE OECD COUNTRIES | |||||||||||
1965
| 1966
| 1967
| 1968
| 1969
| 1970
| 1971
| 1972
| 1973
| 1974
| ||
| Canada | … | 8·2 | 6·7 | 3·1 | 6·9 | 5·7 | 2·7 | 6·0 | 6·6 | 8·8 | 2·4 |
| U.S.A | … | 9·3 | 9·4 | 2·3 | 5·3 | 5·1 | -4·1 | Nil | 8·0 | 9·3 | -0·8 |
| Japan | … | 3·4 | 13·3 | 19·1 | 17·3 | 16·8 | 16·2 | 3·0 | 6·8 | 17·3 | -2·3 |
| Austria | … | 3·7 | 4·5 | 0·9 | 6·8 | 11·9 | 8·5 | 6·0 | 8·5 | 4·3 | 5·0 |
| Belgium | … | 1·9 | 1·8 | 1·8 | 5·3 | 10·1 | 3·1 | 3·0 | 5·8 | 6·4 | 4·3 |
| Finland | … | 6·5 | 5·3 | 3·3 | 5·6 | 13·7 | 10·1 | 2·0 | 11·8 | 6·1 | 1·7 |
| France | … | 1·9 | 7·3 | 2·5 | 4·1 | 12·7 | 5·6 | 4·0 | 7·7 | 7·1 | 3·3 |
| German Federal Republic | … | 5·6 | 1·8 | -1·7 | 11·4 | 13·4 | 6·3 | 2·0 | 3·9 | 6·6 | -0·9 |
| Greece | … | 9·0 | 15·7 | 4·3 | 8·2 | 12·0 | 10·2 | 11·0 | 13·5 | 15·9 | -2·1 |
| Ireland | … | 3·7 | 5·4 | 7·6 | 11·8 | 7·7 | 2·6 | 4·0 | 4·8 | 10·1 | ֵ |
| Italy | … | 5·0 | 11·3 | 8·5 | 6·3 | 3·7 | 6·4 | Nil | 4·0 | 9·6 | 4·4 |
| Luxembourg | … | 0·9 | -3·6 | Nil | 5·7 | 13·4 | Nil | -1·0 | 4·0 | 11·7 | 3·5 |
| Netherlands | … | 5·5 | 6·0 | 4·1 | 11·7 | 11·9 | 10·0 | 6·0 | 4·7 | 6·3 | 2·5 |
| Norway | … | 5·5 | 5·2 | 4·1 | 4·8 | 5·3 | 4·3 | 4·0 | 4·8 | 5·5 | 3·5 |
| Portugal | … | 6·3 | 6·7 | 5·5 | 10·4 | 10·1 | 10·4 | -70 | 21·5 | -0·9 | ֵ |
| Spain | … | 14·4 | 15·0 | 5·5 | 7·8 | 15·1 | 10·5 | 3·0 | 15·5 | 15·1 | 9·5 |
| Sweden | … | 8·3 | 3·4 | 2·5 | 5·6 | 6·8 | 6·4 | 1·0 | 3·0 | 6·7 | 6·3 |
| Switzerland | … | 3·8 | 3·7 | 3·6 | 4·3 | 9·9 | 8·3 | 2·0 | 2·0 | 5·8 | 0·9 |
| United Kingdom | … | 2·8 | 1·8 | Nil | 5·3 | 3·4 | 1·6 | Nil | 2·0 | 7·8 | -1·8 |
| Denmark | … | 6·2 | 1·7 | 3·3 | 3·6 | 12·0 | 3·1 | 2·6 | 8·5 | 1·3 | ֵ |
| Australia | … | 8·4 | 1·7 | 5·9 | 5·6 | 7·9 | 4·2 | 4·0 | 1·0 | 10·5 | 2·6 |
Sources:
|
| OECD Industrial production Historical Statistics 1955–1971. |
| OECD Industrial production Quarterly supplement to MEI 1975–1. |
| For Denmark—IMF International Financial Statistics includes manufacturing and mining only. |
| For Australia—IMF International Financial Statistics includes manufacturing and electricity and gas only. |
| ֵ Not yet available. |
| Figures for Turkey, Iceland and New Zealand are not available from International sources. |
| INTERNATIONAL POSTAL RATES FOR LETTERS (AT THE FIRST WEIGHT STEP, WHICH COVERS APPROXIMATELY 90 PER CENT. Of BRITISH LETTERS POSTED TO EUROPE) IN THE EEC (RATES OF EXCHANGE AS AT 10TH JUNE 1975) | |||||||||||
Belgium
| Denmark
| France
| Germany (Federal Republic)
| Irish Republic
| Italy
| Luxembourg
| Netherlands
| United Kingdom
| |||
p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| |||
| Belgium | … | … | — | 12·3 | 8·0 | 8·0 | 12·3 | 8·0 | 8·0 | 8·0 | 12·3 |
| Denmark | … | … | 10·3 | — | 10·3 | 10·3 | 10·3 | 10·3 | 10·3 | 10·3 | 10·3 |
| France | … | … | 8·6 | 12·8 | — | 8·6 | 12·8 | 8·6 | 8·6 | 8·6 | 12·8 |
| Germany (Federal Republic) | … | … | 9·2 | 12·9 | 9·2 | — | 12·9 | 9·2 | 9·2 | 9·2 | 12·9 |
| Irish Republic | … | … | 9·0 | 9·0 | 9·0 | 9·0 | — | 9·0 | 9·0 | 9·0 | 7·0 |
| Italy | … | … | 6·9 | 10·4 | 6·9 | 6·9 | 10·4 | — | 6·9 | 6·9 | 10·4 |
| Luxembourg | … | … | 4·9 | 9·9 | 4·9 | 4·9 | 9·9 | 4·9 | — | 4·9 | 9·9 |
| Netherlands | … | … | 9·0 | 10·8 | 9·0 | 9·0 | 10·8 | 9·0 | 9·0 | — | 10·8 |
| United Kingdom | … | … | 8·0 | 8·0 | 8·0 | 8·0 | 7·0 | 8·0 | 8·0 | 8·0 | — |
| INTERNATIONAL PRINTED PAPERS POSTAL RATES IN THE EEC (RATES OF EXCHANGE AS AT 10TH JUNE 1975) | ||||||||||
United Kingdom
| Belgium*
| Denmark
| France
| Germany (Federal Republic)
| Irish Republic
| Italy
| Luxembourg *
| Netherlands *
| ||
Present
| Proposed
| |||||||||
| (17.3.75) | (5.1.76) | (15.12.74) | (1.4.75) | (16.9.74) | (1.7.74) | (1.10.74) | (25.3.75) | (1.3.73) | (1.9.74) | |
p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| p
| |
Printed Papers (full rate)— | ||||||||||
| 20g | 5·0 | 6·0 | 6·2 | 5·5 | 7·5 | 5·5 | 5·0 | — | 4·9 | 5·4 |
| 50g | 7·0 | 8·0 | 8·6 | 7·8 | 9·7 | 9·2 | 6·0 | 3·5 | 6·2 | 7·2 |
| l00g | 8·5 | 10·0 | 9·9 | 7·8 | 12·9 | 11·0 | 8·0 | 4·5 | 7·4 | 9·0 |
| 250g | 11·0 | 16·0 | 12·3 | 12·7 | 24·8 | 12·9 | 11·0 | 6·9 | 12·3 | 12·5 |
| 500g | 19·0 | 28·0 | 22·2 | 22·2 | 33·4 | 22·1 | 18·0 | 12·1 | 22·2 | 22·4 |
| 1000g | 32·0 | 48·0 | 38·2 | 37·2 | 53·8 | 38·6 | 30·0 | 20·7 | 37·0 | 37·6 |
| 2,000g | 54·0 | 80·0 | 64·1 | 63·3 | 75·3 | 62·5 | 50·0 | 34·5 | 61·7 | 62·7 |
Printed Papers (reduced rate)— | ||||||||||
| 20g | 4·0 | 5·0 | 3·7 | 3·2 | 3·8 | — | — | N.A. | 2·5 | 2·7 |
| 50g | 5·0 | 6·0 | 4·9 | 4·8 | 4·8 | 5·5 | 4·0 | N.A. | 3·1 | 3·6 |
| 100g | 6·0 | 7·0 | 6·2 | 4·8 | 6·5 | 5·5 | 5·0 | N.A. | 3·7 | 4·5 |
| 250g | 8·5 | 11·0 | 8·6 | 7·8 | 12·4 | 7·4 | 7·0 | N.A. | 6·2 | 6·3 |
| 500g | 15·0 | 20·0 | 12·3 | 13·5 | 16·7 | 11·0 | 12·0 | N.A. | 11·1 | 11·2 |
| 1,000g | 27·0 | 35·0 | 22·2 | 22·2 | 26·9 | 20·3 | 22·0 | N.A. | 18·5 | 18·8 |
| 2,000g | 48·0 | 65·0 | 37·0 | 38·0 | 37·7 | 31·3 | 40·0 | N.A. | 30·8 | 31·4 |
* It is understood that the Benelux countries apply reciprocally, lower rates than those given in the table. | ||||||||||
| The Post Office informs me that it has no evidence that these differences, even where they are adverse, are impeding the efforts of British exporters. | ||||||||||