TRADE TREATY DELAYED

Taranaki Daily News, 9 February 1934, Page 7

TRADE TREATY DELAYED

ANGLO-RUSSIAN AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS WITH SOVIET FOOD SUPPLY TO EMBASSY IMPORT DUTIES QUESTION British Wireless. Rugby, Feb. 7. The drafting of the Anglo-Soviet trade agreement is now proceeding and it is expected that the signing of the agreement will take place in London shortly. Sir John Simon, British Foreign Secretary, stated in the House of Commons this afternoon that the conclusion of the agreement was being delayed by the question of food supplies to the British Embassy in Moscow. “Inasmuch as the Soviet Government,” he aded, “seeks to secure in its trade agreements with other countries diplomatic privileges for its trade representatives, and in view of the fact that certain restrictions have been imposed on the purchase and importation of supplies by His Majesty’s representatives in the Soviet Union, the British Government has requested the Soviet Government to give an .assurance that the necessary supplies would continue to be available at reasonable prices and that such supplies as they found it necessary to import would not be subject to import duties.

“The Soviet Government having declined to give such an assurance, and as it is essential for the continuance of satisfactory relations that proper treatment should be accorded to His Majesty’s representatives, the Government has made its position clear to the Soviet Government in-a formal Note.”