§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will seek to ensure that surplus stocks of food produced under the common agricultural policy are not destroyed or made unfit for human consumption but are made available to the United Kingdom consumer.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe withdrawal of fruit and vegetables from the market, the distillation of surplus wine and fruit and the incorporation of skimmed milk into animal feed, where these occur under the common agricultural policy, are intended to assist in maintaining market prices for producers at adequate levels. It would not be possible to make such surplus produce generally available to consumers without undermining market prices. Only a relatively small proportion of the operations664W referred to have taken place in the United Kingdom. There are, in addition, schemes to make surplus commodities available to certain groups of consumers.