§ Mr. Hardyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take steps to arrange a survey of the comparative costs of egg production and of egg marketing procedures in each member State of the European Community.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithWe are discussing with representatives of the industry how this might be done.
§ Mr. Hardyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if eggs imported from either France or the Netherlands are offered for sale in the United Kingdom at prices below the costs of production in the country of origin.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithCurrent costs of production in France and the Netherlands are not readily available, but would of course vary from one type of enterprise to another.
§ Mr. Hardyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied that imported eggs are labelled and graded to meet both United Kingdom and European Community requirements.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithOur Egg Marketing Inspectorate continually makes spot checks to ensure that eggs comply with the egg marketing standards regulations of the European Community, which apply to all Community countries.
Recent checks of imported eggs at the ports and on wholesalers' premises have revealed a few instances of large packs being marked with the wrong week number. Our inspectors have required these marks to be corrected to comply with the regulations.