§ Mr. Geraint Howellsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied that there will be enough home-produced beef available for the consumer during the autumn and coming winter.
§ Mr. BishopI see no reason to change my estimate, given in reply to the hon. Member on 3rd December 1974, that adequate supplies for the consumer will be available throughout 1975 and into 1976. The majority of these will come from home production.
362W
§ Mr. Geraint Howellsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many tons of intervention beef were sold to British meat wholesalers during the first three months of this year.
§ Mr. BishopTotal sales of beef from intervention during the first three months of 1975 were approximately 115,000 metric tons. As sales of intervention beef are commercial transactions between the intervention authorities and traders no information is available on the nationality of buyers.
§ Mr. Geraint Howellsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the estimated tonnage of intervention beef that will be imported into this country during the next three months.
§ Mr. BishopThe quantity of intervention beef imported into the United Kingdom during the next three months will be determined by the commercial judgment of individual meat traders in the light of the available quantities and price of intervention beef and the movement of market prices. Intervention authorities in other member States may also make commercial arrangements to store their stocks of intervention beef in cold stores in this country.