HC Deb 16 January 1978 vol 942 cc19-21W
Mr. Wigley

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the latest self sufficiency ratio in beef; and how this compares with the previous two years.

Mr. Bishop

As indicated in Table 14 of the White Paper " Annual Review of Agriculture 1978 (Cmnd. 7058), production of beef and veal as a percentage of total new supply was as follows:

1975 1976 1977 (forecast)
92 per cent. 89 per cent. 84 per cent.

Mr. Wigley

asked the Minister of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food what is his

1975 1976 1977
Beef Veal Beef Veal Beef Veal
January-March 24.9 0.7 18.8 0.6 36.6 0.9
April-June 21.2 0.8 21.4 0.7 29.9 0.8
July-September 25.2 0.8 25.4 0.8 33.7 1.1
October-December 27.5 0.8 41.4 0.8 Not yet available

Mr. Wigley

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken during the past month to safeguard the position of beef producers in when expressed in common units and as percentage shares; and what are the estimates on the same basis for 1985 and 2000, respectively.

Mr. Eadie

The figures for 1976 are published in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 1977. These are summarised below along with the " Reference Case " forecasts for 1985 and 2000, as published in Energy Commission Paper No. 1 " Working Document on Energy Policy ". These forecasts represent one of a wide range of possible futures examined by my Department and are subject to a considerable degree of uncertainty.

estimate of the level of beef production in Great Britain in 1977; and how this compares with 1976 and 1975.

Mr. Bishop

Production of beef and veal in Great Britain in the years requested, with United Kingdom figures in brackets, are set out below:

Thousand Tonnes
1975 1,085.0 (1,218.5)
1976 967.4 (1,068.9)
1977 (provisional) 894.2 (1,019.0)

Mr. Wigley

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing the quarterly volume of imports into the United Kingdom of fresh and chilled beef and of veal, for each quarter of 1975, 1976 and 1977.

Mr. Bishop

As follows:

the United Kingdom because of unfair competition arising from the green pound.

Mr. Bishop

The Government obtained Community agreement to reintroduce the grade of steers M as a category eligible for intervention in Great Britain from 1st December 1977. The support levels for beef have also been strengthened by the 4 per cent. rise in the intervention price from 1st January 1978 as a result of the completion of our transition to common EEC price levels. Meanwhile, producers of certified cattle have been receiving average returns which have been increasing each week by virtue of the rising scale of target prices. Returns are now 7 per cent. higher than in the middle of January last year.

Mr. Wigley

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the latest estimated figures for the subsidy on imported beef, in terms of pence per kilo dead weight, for imports from the Republic of Ireland and from West Germany, respectively.

Mr. Bishop

In the week commencing 9th January 1978, the net monetary compensatory amounts payable on United Kingdom imports of fresh and chilled beef carcases, from the Irish Republic and West Germany, were 29.33p per kg deadweight and 47.22p per kg deadweight respectively.

Mr. Wigley

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the excess per kilo of monetary compensation amounts over and above that necessary to achieve parity of support in relation to beef production between the Republic of Ireland and in the United Kingdom.

Cif Value of United Kingdom Imports £'000
Pork Bacon and Ham Canned
1972 14,290 138,046 48,916
1973 8,313 189,627 77,048
1974 3,791 200,833 83,167
1975 11,669 220,102 91,716
1976 9,250 227,776 113,209
1977 (January to November) 9,622 253,331 109,493

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