§ Mr. Kilfedderasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the items with which tallow—edible beef fat—is listed in the common external tariff.
§ Mrs. FennerChapter 15 of the Common Customs Tariff covers oils and fats. Tallow falls under heading 15.02 which reads as follows:
addition to reimbursement of the full standard cost of grubbing. Entry into the EEC does not seem likely to affect any other major sector of the horticulture industry so seriously, but the Government would be willing to consider representations from the industry if in the event it were found that any other sector had suffered very extensively, and the proposed legislation would enable payments to be made to such growers if the Government decided that was necessary.
It will be a condition of the grant that the grower must grub up all his dessert apples or all his culinary apples or all his pears, and that for five years from the completion of grubbing he must not in-increase any remaining acreage of apples or pears. I am placing in the Library of the House a note giving additional information on the proposed conditions 465W and rates of grant. The maximum special payment will be £200 per acre, over and above the reimbursement of standard grubbing costs; the payment will vary according to the size and type of trees and the density of planting. The total cost is estimated at between £4 million and £5 million. Applications will be accepted from 1st August next. No applications will be accepted after 31st July 1976; but an earlier closing date for applications under this scheme may be necessary if comparable measures are introduced on a Community-wide basis. As it will not otherwise be possible to obtain specific statutory authority for the grant in time for the next grubbing season, we intend to rely temporarily on the authority of the Appropriation Act and a Supplementary Estimate will be presented to Parliament in due course to secure approval for this new service. The necessary horticultural legislation will be introduced as soon as possible. Growers who contemplate applying for grant should await the explanatory leaflet which will be made available when the scheme is open for applications. No grant can be paid on trees which have been grubbed up before an application for grant has been officially approved.
466WThe European Commission has been informed, under the provisions of Article 93 of the Treaty of Rome, of these proposals.