§ Mr. Staintonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made in European Economic Community negotiations with Barbados and similarly placed developing and former Commonwealth countries on cane sugar prices for the 1981 and 1982 crops; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithIt was agreed at the Foreign Affairs Council on 26 January that the ACP countries, including Barbados, should be offered an 8½ per cent. rather than a 7½ per cent. increase in the guaranteed price for the sugar they supply under the sugar protocol to the Lomé convention. At the same time it was agreed that the refiners of ACP sugar should be compensated for this price increase by a three-year suspension of the storage levy/ refund scheme for ACP sugar, starting from 1 July this year. A decision on the future of this scheme, which we have long regarded as an unnecessary burden on the refining industry, will be taken in the light of experience gained during this period of suspension.