EGGS (Hansard, 7 April 1971)

§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Anthony Stodart)
I beg to move, That the Eggs (Protection of Guarantees) Order, 1971, a copy of which was laid before this House on 26th March, be approved. With permission, Mr. Speaker, I suggest that it might be for the convenience of the House to discuss with this Order the one following: That the Eggs (Guaranteed Prices) Order, 1971, a copy of which was laid before this House on 26th March, be approved. I will summarise the contents of these Orders as briefly and clearly as I can. The British Egg Marketing Board's operations came to an end on 31st March, and we have to introduce new arrangements for the egg subsidy to cover the period between now and March, 1974, when the egg subsidy will finish altogether.
These two Orders give statutory backing to our proposed new arrangements. The Guaranteed Prices Order makes provision for the subsidy payments, and the Protection of Guarantees Order makes provision for safeguarding them. The method of operating the subsidy arrangements for 1971–72 has been agreed with the farmers unions, and the arrangements were described in the recent Annual Review White Paper in paragraph 54.
The main changes introduced by the new Guaranteed Prices Order are that the subsidy will be payable to producers of eggs instead of to the Egg Board, and they will be expressed as the difference between the guaranteed price and an "estimated producer price" instead of the difference between the guaranteed price and an "indicator price". This change is necessary because the indicator price was defined as the price the Board would receive in a market which was neither over-supplied nor under-supplied.
As before, there will be a standard quantity for hen eggs to place a maximum limit on the Exchequer's liability, but the minimum standard quantity which was introduced in 1970–71 to stabilise the Board's trading position in the final year of its existence will be 645 abolished. Under the old arrangements, to be eligible for subsidy eggs had to be packed by the Board after having been tested and found to be of first quality, or dirty but otherwise of first quality. Under the new arrangements, the quality standards required remain precisely the same but the eggs may either be packed by the producer himself, if he is registered as a packer, or may be sold to a registered packer.
Apart from minor redrafting to remove references to the Egg Board, the new Protection of Guarantees Order resembles the old one. We have tried to make the administrative arrangements for this subsidy as simple as we can, and the changes have been kept to a minimum. The producer himself will find things very simple. He will not even have to make a claim for subsidy but will receive it automatically from the packer at the same time as the packer pays him for the eggs. The packer will be operating under the terms of a contract with the appropriate Minister, and will submit a weekly claim to the appropriate Department, and he will be reimbursed for the subsidy he has paid to the producer, normally within seven days of the receipt of his claim. I am confident that the industry will find these arrangements satisfactory during the short period between the ending of the Egg Board and the termination of the subsidy.

§ Mr. Michael Barnes (Brentford and Chiswick)
As the hon. Gentleman has said, these Orders mark the beginning of the Government's new strategy whereby egg subsidies are to be phased out by 1974. They will, of course, be followed by other Orders raising the minimum import price and fixing the rates of the levy which the Eggs Authority will raise.
What estimate has the hon. Gentleman made of the extent to which retail prices of eggs will increase this year as a result of this? Already, it seems, at the end of the first week of free marketing, that producer prices are up. It is very much in the minds of the consumers to ask what sort of price increases are going to be involved. Can the hon. Gentleman say how prices will be affected by the latest assessment of losses due to fowl pest?
646 It is extremely important that, as the Government's new strategy is put into effect, the hon. Gentleman should keep the Secretary of State for Social Service closely advised of the cumulative impact of these increases in prices, because the Government's strategy means that, whereas the deficiency payments they are now phasing out benefited all consumers when they went to the shops to buy food, it is the taxpayer who will now benefit, and certain sections of the community, like the old and the poor, are going to have to pay the same higher market prices that everyone else will have to pay. So it is very important that those sections of the community which are going to be worst hit by the increases in prices which will follow from the Government's new strategy should be properly protected by the Secretary of State through increases in pensions, family allowances and supplementary benefit.
I want to refer to quality. The Protection of Guarantees Order deals with standards and also the question of inspection. I am only speaking for myself, but one feels that the standard and quality of eggs one buys in big cities from supermarkets and stores unfortunately are very different from the quality of the really fresh eggs from free-range hens in the country. It would be a great pity if it were inevitable that, as our production and marketing became more sophisticated and efficient in commercial terms, the quality of our food went down. One would hate to think that the sort of standard of food to be found in the most sophisticated consumer society in the world, the United States, could come here, and that the more sophisticated our methods and the more sophisticated we became as a society, the worse our food came to be.
If the Government are to adopt these policies, which will push up the price to the consumer of eggs and other foods, the consumer will want to know by how much prices are to rise as a result of the new strategy, and he will want an assurance that standards will be kept as high as possible.

§ Mr. Anthony Stodart
In all amity, I remind the hon. Gentleman the Member for Brentford and Chiswick (Mr. Barnes), when he refers to this being the Government's strategy, that it was the strategy 647 of the previous Government to wind up the Egg Marketing Board, and it was a strategy with which we did not disagree when we had before us the Bill in which that measure found place.
The hon. Gentleman has asked about prices. At this point, the week before Easter this year, prices are ranging from about 18p to 20p, compared with 16p last year. We expect that prices will come down, as they normally do, after Easter, but I think that one has an indication there in looking at those two strictly relevant weeks of the year. I should not here and now care to give an estimate of the effect of the fowl pest on prices. I do not think that it will prove as destructive—if that be the word to use—as one might suppose, although I think it inevitable that the number of birds lost will have an effect. I shall see if I can get some figures from the Department for the hon. Gentleman about it.
Now, the question of quality, a subject near to my heart. I entirely accept that the fresh farm egg, sold literally over the gate, and particularly if it is brown, will always continue to appeal to a great many people. My own feeling is that, probably, the future of the egg trade will be that the multiple stores will obtain their eggs from, shall I say, the intensive-producing units. I think that I should be safe in saying that, dietetically, no one has found that they are less good in food value than the fresh egg.
I am equally certain, however, that there will continue to be a substantial trade for people in a much smaller way who are producing eggs in what one might call the more traditional style, not necessarily on free range but on deep litter or something like that—eggs which may be sold as literally fresh farm eggs over the farm gate. I foresee a considerable trade with people coming out into the country at the weekend and being attracted to buy from the small producer.
So far as quality goes, therefore, I see the future of the egg industry, for both producer and consumer, as one about which we can be reasonably confident.