§ Mr. David Priceasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list in the Official Report the differing methods by which each member Government of the EEC ensures the availability of working capital for their farmers and the current terms upon which such capital is provided.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerWhere EEC member Governments directly support credit, the aim is usually to encourage specific forms of investment. The details of the individual schemes are rather lengthy, and
EEC COMMON PRICES, UNITED KINGDOM INTERVENTION AND FARM-GATE PRICES AND THIRD COUNTRYOFFER PRICES AT END NOVEMBER 1979 £/Tonne Common EEC intervention price* United Kingdom intervention price† United Kingdom farm-gate, market price or nearest equivalent National third country offer price‡ Wheat … … … … 101 91 99§ 83 Barley … … … … 101 91 95§ 78 Butter … … … … 1,855 1,675 1,807 470 Beef (deadweight) … … 1,606¶ 1,450¶ 1,380 1,010 Lamb— Chilled … … … na na 1080┡** na Frozen … … … na na 1,139┡** 950 Cheese—cheddar type … na na 1,490┡ 510 Notes: * There is no EEC farm-gate buying-in price. These prices are the common intervention prices in ECUs converted to sterling at the spot rate of exchange as at 30 November 1979. † There is no United Kingdom farm-gate buying-in price; intervention takes place at different stages beyond the farm gate for different commodities. The common intervention price has been converted to sterling at the green rate. ‡ The national third country offer price is taken as the EEC support price minus the common levy, expressed in ECUs and converted to sterling at the spot rate of exchange at 30 November, except in the case of frozen lamb where the third country offer price is the average Smithfield price of New Zealand lamb minus the duty. § These prices are not directly comparable with the intervention prices because of the costs involved in transporting cereals to intervention stores. ┡ There are no farm-gate prices for these items; wholesale prices have been quoted. ¶ here are no intervention purchases of hindquarters or manufactured beef, but only of carcases, sides and compensated quarters. Prices quoted are for beef carcases. ** Normally chilled lamb is dearer than frozen, but United Kingdom market prices for lambs have been low recently and this is reflected in the chilled lamb price.