HL Deb 23 March 2000 vol 611 cc399-402

3.14 p.m.

Lord Campbell of Croy

asked Her Majesty's Government: What action they are taking to save the British pig farming industry.

The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Hayman)

My Lords, the pig industry has faced extremely difficult conditions over the past two years. There has been some welcome recent strengthening of the pig price, reflecting in part a range of measures, particularly related to marketing and labelling, taken by the Government and the Meat and Livestock Commission. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister will be meeting leaders of the farming and food industry next week to take forward the Government's strategy for British agriculture as a whole.

Lord Campbell of Croy

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her reply. Although animal welfare is important, does she agree that a combination of factors is making the pig farming industry uneconomic, one of those factors being regulations which are not being observed by European competitors? That is a situation explained in a very well-informed article in the press on 6th March by the noble Lord, Lord Runcie, the former Archbishop of Canterbury. The article was about pigs, not theology. It was a down-to-earth article which I thoroughly commend. Will the Government consider very seriously the future of those unfortunate farmers at the meeting at No. 10 next week?

Baroness Hayman

My Lords, the noble Lord is right to refer to a combination of factors. The increased welfare standards in this country is one such factor. The effects of the BSE crisis have gone wider than the cattle industry and have affected the pig industry too. I saw the article to which the noble Lord referred. I must say that I find in your Lordships' House that the Members on the Bishops' Bench are often extremely well informed on agricultural matters.

In terms of welfare standards, the answer is not to try to diminish our own welfare standards—for example, the ban on sow stalls—but to make sure that we continue to press for the extension of those standards to the rest of the European Union and to include recognition of welfare standards in WTO deliberations.

The Lord Bishop of Hereford

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her kind words about this Bench. I am sure that my colleagues and I are grateful for her comments.

Does the Minister believe that the pig industry is facing extinction—that the collapse will go on—or is it the view of MAFF that there is a market for British pig products which will recover when supply and demand come into balance? In other words, we are seeing a number of pig producers going out of business but, so far, not enough to have taken that amount of production out of the market to enable the price to rise to a viable level for those who survive. However, is it MAFF's view that there is a long-term future for British pig farmers and that it is mainly a question of supply and demand?

Baroness Hayman

My Lords, as I said earlier, I believe that it is a combination of factors. The average weekly price of pigmeat currently stands at 92.05p per kilogramme. That is up from 75p per kilogramme at the end of January. That represents what is just about the break-even point for most producers.

The pig industry has always been cyclical. We are seeing some restructuring at the moment. We believe that there is a long-term market for high quality produce, both in this country and abroad. We are a net exporter of pork. I think also that there is a market premium for products which are produced to very high standards both in terms of welfare and feed. For that reason, we have concentrated on helping British producers to market the high quality of their produce.

Lord Peyton of Yeovil

My Lords, reverting to the point made by my noble friend Lord Campbell about regulations loosely enforced elsewhere but pressed home with rigour here, will the Minister do her best to persuade officials in her department to learn a little more about what goes on in Europe and to stop acting as though they were themselves the appointed pallbearers for this industry?

Baroness Hayman

My Lords, as I have said previously to the noble Lord, I have no intention of gold-plating any provisions or of placing extra, unnecessary burdens on British producers. Equally, we all recognise that in the aftermath of BSE, the provisions are in the interests of rebuilding the industry in this country. We have been successful domestically. We need to become so in export terms. That brings with it the cost of high hygiene and public health standards.

Lord Mackie of Benshie

My Lords, does the Minister accept that, while the fertility of the pig is one of the great dangers—it multiplies quickly—in this case the strength of the pound has as much to do with the troubles of the industry, just as is the case with many other industries? Will she do something about that?

Baroness Hayman

My Lords, I do not know whether I prefer to answer on pig fertility or on the strength of the pound. In many ways, the strength of the pound against the euro is an extremely significant factor in that part of the agriculture industry, as it is elsewhere. The answer does not lie in an artificial devaluation of a currency which represents a strong economy. That would be difficult to achieve and would produce more negative effects than success. We return to the support which we can give to the industry, which has been successful in creating markets for a high premium product.

Baroness Byford

My Lords, will the Minister explain why the Irish, French and Belgian Governments have all applied for financial help from the European Commission and have obtained it, yet this Government have not? Furthermore, following the question asked by my noble friend, why did the Government decide to block Stephen O'Brien's Private Member's Bill which would have helped people in choosing British products? The Government chose to talk out the measure, thus failing to provide additional aid to British pig farmers.

Baroness Hayman

My Lords, I sometimes believe that the Benches opposite have a case of collective amnesia about the rules of membership of the European Union. The Irish Government have applied for aid in the same way as we applied for aid in crisis in response to the fire that occurred in the pig industry. The kinds of aid which can be given—the Belgian input is an interesting one—relate to restructuring the industry. That is not what is being asked for at present. Market support is not available. Commissioner Fischler has made that clear. He made it extremely clear to the agriculture committee which went over to see him in Brussels about the issue.

Equally, we cannot impose the provisions of Stephen O'Brien's Bill. It is no good pretending that because one wants the world to be different, it is different. We have taken action to ensure that the rules in this country prevent the misleading labelling of products as "British" which are not British.

Lord Rotherwick

My Lords—

Noble Lords

Next Question!

The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Jay of Paddington)

My Lords, we have reached 16 minutes. We should move on.