TRADE MARKS AND HIGHER QUALITY J HE Government is rightly anxious
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for greater output by those industries the products of which command a readyi export market. In some cases, however, it has been suggested that insufficient attention has been paid to quality.
Would it not be possible to apply an export trade mark to British industry? For example, the product with which I am concerned—Harris tweed—could provide a pointer for other industries. Some years ago, the Board of Trade authorized the use by our industry of the well-known trade mark consisting of an orb surmounted by a Maltese Cross. This gave protection against imitations both to the Islanders of the Hebrides and to the public. Not only that—it compelled the industry to maintain a high standard, because only tweed reaching this standard may bear the trade mark.
Surely this principle could with profit be more widely adopted. Trade marks should be allocated to different industries, and only goods reaching prescribed standards should be permitted to carry trade marks.
London, E.C.2. GEORGE ELLIS, Chairman.
(For Harris Tweed Association.)