HC Deb 11 July 1979 vol 970 cc464-5
42. Mr. Nelson

asked the Lord Privy Seal what changes in the regulations governing beef and veal imports from ACP countries were made as part of the conditions attaching to renewal of the Lomé Convention.

Mr. Hurd

The present regulations provide for duty-free access with a 90 per cent. levy abatement for just over 27,000 tonnes of beef and veal, the quantity being subject to annual negotiations. Under an exchange of letters to be annexed to the new convention, the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries will be entitled to export to the Community up to a fixed ceiling of 30,000 tonnes—compared with 27,000 tonnes—each year for the duration of the convention, with the same levy abatement. We welcome this modest improvement.

Mr. Nelson

Will my hon. Friend assure the House that the United Kingdom beef and veal producers will not pay the price for the renewal of the Lomé Convention? Will he assure the House that their returns in prices will not be affected unduly by such a concession?

Mr. Hurd

I give the House that assurance. The new arrangement is a modest advance. About 30,000 tonnes of beef is not a great quantity, but it will be of considerable help to Botswana, which is particularly dependent upon it.

Mrs. Dunwoody

Although it is an advantage for Botswana, which has always supplied us with cheap beef from which the British housewife has benefited, is there no way in which that country can be given a longer period to plan production in the way that it was carried out under the old Commonwealth arrangements?

Mr. Hurd

There has been an improvement. The fixed ceiling is for 30,000 tonnes each year, as opposed to the quantity being reviewed annually.