HC Deb 17 February 1977 vol 926 cc687-8
7. Mr. John Ellis

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the breakdown in the current retail price of New Zealand butter between shipboard price in New Zealand, transport cost, EEC taxes or levies and the wholesale to retail margin in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Bishop

Under the terms of Protocol 18 of the Treaty of Accession, New Zealand butter is imported at a fixed price. This is currently £610.39 per tonne, plus the monetary compensatory amount, which is presently £205 per tonne. The butter now being sold at a first-hand price of between £1,048 to £1,057 per tonne was imported some months ago when monetary compensatory amounts and levies differed from those now applying. The average retail price reported for December was 50.5p per lb. Information on shipboard prices in New Zealand and details of transport arrangements and costs are not readily available.

Mr. Ellis

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Are the New Zealanders willing to send more butter this year, and are there more disincentives to doing this? Is there any danger of their quota being cut?

Mr. Bishop

My hon. Friend will know that the Council agreed in June last year to allow imports of 125,000 tonnes, 120,000 tonnes and 115,000 tonnes of butter for 1978, 1979 and 1980 respectively. He will also be aware that the New Zealanders were never able to supply more than a proportion of our requirements. The quantities that we require after those amounts will be subject to negotiation.

Mr. Jay

Is my hon. Friend aware that the levy that we are imposing on New Zealand butter amounts to nearly 80 per cent. of the price at which New Zealand can land butter in this country? What is the purpose of these levies?

Mr. Bishop

The variable levy is a market-regulating instrument which allows New Zealand and Community butter to sell side by side. My right hon. Friend will appreciate that the levies which we have to pay, and which are an apparent disadvantage of the Common Market as he sees it, justify the stand that my right hon. Friend is making on the green pound.