HC Deb 23 June 1994 vol 245 cc349-51
10. Mr. Butler

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress is being made concerning the future of the potato marketing board; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Jack

Following my right hon. Friend's announcement that the potato marketing scheme will end in 1997, the board is pressing ahead with the changes to the scheme which will allow growers to prepare for the free market.

Mr. Butler

Is my hon. Friend aware that a number of growers are seeking a poll under the terms of the Agriculture Marketing Act 1958 to revoke the potato marketing scheme? Does he view with equanimity the prospect of our being one of the few large potato-growing countries in Europe without an organised market for potatoes and potato products? Does he have any suggestions that growers might like to consider in terms of how they proceed in this matter?

Mr. Jack

I view with enthusiasm the change to the potato marketing regime as a result of the Agriculture Act 1993. My right hon. Friend proposed an orderly change in the present arrangements. Some potato growers have said that they want to conduct a poll and there are procedures for that. It is for growers to decide whether they wish to vote. If they vote for the removal of the board, it will go out of existence straight away. If they vote against, there are further options for the existing potato marketing board to propose successor schemes to the present arrangement—for example, a development council for the industry.

Mr. Foulkes

May I tell the Minister that the proposal is not welcomed by the potato growers in Ayrshire in my constituency, who produce some of the finest early potatoes in the shops now? [Interruption.] The ones grown by the sea come ready salted, which is a great advantage. Since the proposal will not come into effect until 1997, will the Minister give an assurance that nothing irrevocable will be done in the next two years, so that the Labour Government can ensure that the potato marketing board continues as at present?

Mr. Jack

If that is the best first early that the hon. Gentleman can produce, I suggest that it should stay in the ground. He should realise that the world has moved on and that Britain's potato growers and producers of potato products have been disadvantaged by the existing marketing arrangements. The flexibility that my right hon. Friend the Minister introduced as a result of the Agriculture Act 1993 has shown itself in the way in which potato growers have already modified the area under cultivation this year, in the light of market conditions. They have also taken advantage of the processing contracts available. That reveals the way in which potato consumption is going and such change benefits all those in the potato industry.

Mr. Clifton-Brown

May I urge my hon. Friend to press ahead with the reorganisation of the potato marketing board? He will be aware of the 500,000 tonnes of processed product that is imported into this country every year, which means that farmers could produce an extra 20,000 acres of potatoes in this country and there could be considerable extra jobs in the processing industry. Therefore, I ask my hon. Friend to proceed with the reorganisation as soon as possible.

Mr. Jack

I thank my hon. Friend for his perceptive and commercially based comments. They stand in stark contrast to the views that we have heard from the Opposition, who seem not to be concerned about the interests of farmers or those who work in the industry producing potato products. I endorse strongly what my hon. Friend has said.

Mr. John D. Taylor

Is not the reform of potato marketing really preparing the way for the European Union, through the common agricultural policy, to create a new regime and to control potatoes in the European Community?

Mr. Jack

I understand the right hon. Gentleman's concern about that. If there were to be anything at Community level, the most that one could expect would be something dealing with common standards and that is a long way off. We must press on with these reforms for the benefit of the entire potato industry.

Sir Peter Tapsell

Is my hon. Friend aware that it is not only in Ayrshire that the potato growers are keen to keep the potato marketing scheme, but also in Lincolnshire? Growers there are under the impression that when the scheme comes to an end in 1997 it is likely to be followed by a European potato regime. Is any progress being made in the establishment of that?

Mr. Jack

We do not want to see some sort of command economy regime to replace what the potato marketing board represented. If there is not a vote to remove the PMB straight away, the future of the scheme is a matter for members of the potato industry to decide in consultation with the board.