§ 6. Mr. BrazierTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action her Department is taking to assist the export of British agricultural produce.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardI am taking forward in a number of ways the marketing initiative of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.
§ Mr. BrazierWill my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating our farmers and growers—a truly successful industry—on halving the trade gap in food over the past 30 years? Does she agree that the seminars that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has set up are playing an important role in continuing that process? Does she further agree that it is essential that we provide our farmers and growers with a level playing field in as many respects as possible, from research and development through to pesticides?
§ Mrs. ShephardI agree with my hon. Friend that a level playing field is important for farmers, as it is for all our manufacturers. It is is important to reduce the trade 966 gap, and the marketing work of Food from Britain, which has been recently reconstituted to focus on export work, will make an important contribution in that respect.