§ 64. Mr. Martenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the estimated butter and cheese surplus in the Common Market at the end of the year; what is the reason for the surplus; what estimate he has made of the effect of entry of Great Britain and Denmark upon the surplus; what proposals are being discussed by the European Economic Community to deal with it; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartAlthough the Community's stocks of butter have been rising recently, mainly because of the increase in Community milk production in exceptionally favourable weather conditions, it is much too early to give an estimate of the likely level of these stocks at the end of this year, bearing in mind the many variable factors, including the weather, that can affect this. The United Kingdom is a large net importer of butter and cheese and, after allowing for imports from New Zealand under the special arrangement, should provide increased market opportunities for supplies from other members of the enlarged Community, including continued imports from Denmark.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how 462W and in what way the adoption of Regulation 2829/71/EEC of 24th December, 1971, amending Regulation (EEC) No. 748/68 on general rules for the carry-forward of part of the sugar production to the following marketing year will affect British industry engaged in these activities; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PriorRegulation 748/68 previously provided that, when a sugar manufacturer carried forward part of his production from one sugar season to the next under the provisions of Article 32 of Regulation 1009/67, the minimum price payable by the manufacturer for the corresponding sugar beet should be the minimum price applicable during the season in which the beet was processed, minus part of the cost of storing the sugar. Regulation 2879/71 alters this provision so that, except where the Community imposes a levy on the sugar in question, the minimum price payable for the beet is that applicable during the succeeding season. It therefore improves the position of beet growers in the case of an increase in the minimum price for beet between two sugar seasons.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Regulation No. 2863/71 of 30th December, 1971 amending EEC No. 2049/69 laying down general rules for the denaturing of sugar for animal feeding will affect British industry engaged in these activities.
§ Mr. PriorRegulation 2863/71, which repealed Article 6 of Regulation 2049/69, will not in itself have any effect on denaturers of sugar in the United Kingdom, because the substance of that Article has now been included in Regulation 100/72 of 14th January, 1972.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Part 24, Fisheries Regulation No. 2808/71/EEC of 23rd December, 1971, will affect British industry engaged in these activities; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartThis Regulation (2808/71) supplements in respect of herring an earlier Regulation (1109/71) which laid down for other species of fish the procedure for establishing the entry 463W price applicable to imports of fish from third countries. When the level of the entry price falls below the level of the reference price (established in other Community Regulations) the importing country is entitled to take protective measures (prescribed in the Community's main marketing regulation) so as to prevent disruption of its market. Therefore, the effect of this Regulation (and of the Regulation which it supplements) on the United Kingdom following our entry into the EEC would be to enable us to take action to prevent excessive supplies of fish from third countries from weakening our market.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Part 33, Oils and Fats Regulation No. 2495/71/EEC, of 19th November, 1971, will affect British industry engaged in these activities; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PriorThis regulation gives effect to provisions in the Association Agreement between Tunisia and the EEC for imports of olive oil into the Community. It provides a preference for Tunisia in a way which does not affect the import price. It would not therefore affect British industry.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Part 33, Oils and Fats Regulation No. 2501/71/EEC, of 22nd November, 1971, will affect British industry engaged in these activities; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PriorThis Regulation alters the premiums and minimum quantities for olive oil purchased by intervention agencies in olive-producing countries of the EEC. Since olive oil is not produced in the United Kingdom, it will not affect British industry.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Part 33, Oils and Fats Regulation No. 2503/71/EEC, of 2nd November, 1971, will affect British industry engaged in these activities; and whether he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. PriorThis Regulation alters the control arrangements for the payment of a Community production refund on olive oil used in manufacturing some preserved fish and vegetable products. There is one British firm using olive oil in the canning of fish which should be eligible for the refund when we join the Community.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Part 33, Oils and Fats Regulation No. 2718/71/ EEC of 21st December, 1971, will affect British industry engaged in these activities; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PriorThis Regulation makes a small change in the method of calculating the weight of oilseeds for the purposes of the Community subsidy. The subsidy will become payable on oilseed rape grown and processed in this country and will be phased in following our entry into the EEC.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Part 39, Sugar Regulation No. 2417/71/EEC of 10th November, 1971, will affect British industry engaged in these activities; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartThis Regulation makes minor changes in the terms on which the national Intervention Agencies in the Community may purchase sugar offered to them by manufacturers. The main effects of the amendments are to prevent sugar being sold to intervention more than once; to increase the rental payable by the agency when a manufacturer stores the sugar on its behalf; to increase the premiums payable by the agency for sugar in certain types of packing; and to provide for these premiums to be determined and paid only when the sugar is removed from the manufacturer's store. The amendments are not such as to create difficulty for the United Kingdom sugar trade.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Part 39, Sugar Regulation 2723/71/EEC of 20th December, 1971, will affect British industry engaged in these activities; and whether he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. Anthony StodartThis Regulation extends until 30th June, 1975 the payment of subsidies on sugar used in the manufacture of certain chemical products, which would otherwise have expired on 31st January, 1972. It therefore benefits United Kingdom manufacturers of these products.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Part 41, Wine Regulation No. 2436/71/EEC of 11th November, 1971, will affect British industry engaged in these activities; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PriorUnder the terms of this regulation Israel and Chile will observe the EEC reference prices when exporting wines to the Community. The regulation will apply in the United Kingdom as from 1st February, 1973. Any effect will depend on the level of reference prices then operating but in view of the normal price levels for Israeli and Chilean wines imported into the United Kingdom the effect for importers is likely to be negligible.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Part 41, Wine Regulaion No. 91/72/EEC of 13th January, 1972, will affect British industry engaged in these activities: and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PriorThe effect of this regulation is to remove time limits associated with storage aid for wine under the wine market regime. Storage aid is related to excess production of wine of fresh grapes, which is not a situation expected to arise for English wine producers.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how and in what way the adoption of Part 18, Animal and Feeding Stuffs Directive 71/393/EEC of 18th November, 1971, will affect British industry engaged in these activities; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartDirective 71/393 sets out methods of analysis for the official verification of the level of certain constituents of animal feedingstuffs. My Department is consulting trade, farming and enforcement interests on the applica-466W tion of these methods in the United Kingdom, and any difficulties will be discussed with the Commission.