HL Deb 14 February 1980 vol 405 cc314-6

3.8 p.m.

Baroness VICKERS

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what figures have been set by the EEC for processing margins of beet sugar and for refining margins of cane sugar; how many people were employed in sugar processing and refining in 1976; and what is the total of those now in this employment.

The MINISTER of STATE, MINISTRY of AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES and FOOD (Earl Ferrers)

My Lords, beet sugar processing margins and cane sugar refining margins are not fixed by the EEC as part of the common price régime. According to the EEC Commission, a total of 72,933 people were employed in the production of sugar beet in the Community in 1976–77; the provisional figure for 1978–79 is 71,912. Figures for the numbers employed in the refining of cane sugar in the Community as a whole are not available, but in the United Kingdom cane refinery employees totalled approximately 6,200 in 1976 and total about 3,900 now.

Baroness VICKERS

My Lords, while thanking the Minister for that satisfactory reply, may I ask whether he can assure me that the Government will secure from Brussels the same profitability as is enjoyed by the beet section? Secondly, can he assure me that there will be no further reduction in employment on cane sugar?

Earl FERRERS

My Lords, we believe that there is a scope in this country for both refined sugar from cane and also for sugar beet. My noble friend asked for an assurance that there will be an equal profitability from the two by Brussels. Of course, that is not Brussels' particular responsibility. Perhaps I could give her this piece of information, which might help to put it in perspective. It is estimated that the margin for producing one tonne of white sugar from sugar beet is £116 approximately. Within this, the refining margin from sugar beet to white sugar is estimated to be £32. The margin for refining one tonne of white sugar from raw cane is estimated to be about £42. In this country in dealing with sugar beet the difficulty is that it is not only the refining but the processing of the complete crop which is taken into account in deriving the margin, whereas with sugar cane it is only the refining.

Lord DOUGLAS of BARLOCH

My Lords, is the noble Earl not aware of the very great injury that has been inflicted upon the sugar-producing countries all over the world by the protectionist policies adopted by the EEC?

Earl FERRERS

My Lords, I think that in fact the noble Lord will find that the demand for world sugar this year is outstripping the actual supply.

Lord PEART

My Lords, I hope that the noble Earl will appreciate that what was said earlier was not really factual. We actually import 1.4 million tonnes of sugar—that was negotiated in the Community—and the Commonwealth sugar producers were delighted at that.

Earl FERRERS

My Lords, I was about to say that the noble Lord is, of course, absolutely right, but in fact he is very nearly right. We consume about 2.4 million tonnes of sugar. We import from other countries about 0.2 million tonnes. We import from ACP countries 1.2 million tonnes and we produce about 1 million tonnes ourselves.

Lord MACKIE OF BENSHIE

My Lords, can the noble Earl give us an assurance that he appreciates the point of the Question—namely, that the health of the cane sugar refining industry in this country is very important to our agreement with the Commonwealth?

Earl FERRERS

My Lords, I take absolutely the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Mackie of Benshie. We are equally very concerned that the sugar refining industry is kept as healthy as possible. Moreover, we think that there is a substantial part that can be played by the sugar beet industry. Our concern at present is that the original proposals put forward by Brussels would severely restrict the growing of sugar beet in this country by 32,000 hectares, which is unacceptable.

Lord WALSTON

My Lords, can the noble Earl give us an assurance that there is no question of renegotiating or in any way reducing the amount of sugar at present imported into this country under the ACP agreement?

Earl FERRERS

My Lords, the noble Lord will be glad to know that the arrangements for importing ACP sugar into the Community are of indefinite duration.