§ Mr. Morganasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what financial advantages he estimates will accrue to the pig sector of British agriculture if accession compensatory amounts are abolished immediately instead of at the end of 1977.
§ Mr. BishopThe accession compensatory amounts for pigmeat were abolished on 15th June. This will have the effect of reducing total payments on imports by almost 15 per cent. In the case of bacon this will mean a reduction of about £42 a tonne. This should help our pig-meat processing industry and should also help strengthen our pig market.
§ Mr. Morganasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what financial advantage he estimates will accrue to the pig sector of British agriculture if the current EEC proposals for improved pigmeat storage schemes are adopted.
§ Mr. BishopThe scheme of aids to private storage was improved from 20th June by the addition of new categories of pigmeat of particular interest to United Kingdom producers and processors. The improvements are designed further to encourage the storage of pigmeat by the trade with the objective of strengthening the market. This scheme should generally help to moderate the effects of the pig cycle in the Community. The beneficial effects in the United Kingdom should derive both from the quantity of home-produced pigmeat that is stored and from the impact of the scheme in other member States and the resulting influence on their market prices and their offer prices to our market.
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§ Mr. Morganasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what financial advantage, if any, he estimates will accrue to the pig sector of British agriculture if the current EEC proposals to increase export restrictions are adopted.
§ Mr. BishopThe export restitutions on processed pigmeat, including canned hams and certain bacon cuts were substantially increased with effect from 15th June. The United Kingdom is only a minor exporter of these products but the increases, coupled with the abolition of the accession compensatory amounts, will benefit our exporters. More importantly, the improved restitutions should help strengthen our pig market if they encourage exporting countries in the Community to look to other markets outside the United Kingdom.