§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each foodstuff subject to levies under the common agricultural policy, including feeding stuffs, rice, olive oil (a) the United Kingdom price, (b) the world price, (c) the common levy and (d) the monetary compensation amounts; whether he will provide the information on a comparable basis and include figures showing the total levy in terms of pence per lb.; and if he will show the appropriate monetary coefficient.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe information requested for the principal foodstuffs is provided in the following table. The third country offer prices used by the Commission to determine rates of levy applicable on 18 March 1982 are taken as the world price. For pigmeat, poultrymeat and eggs the world price is taken as the current sluicegate price, less supplementary levies where applicable. I must emphasise that the figures do not accurately represent the prices at which the United Kingdom or the Community could buy from the world market if more supplies from third countries were sought.
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United Kingdom Support Price 1 £/tonne Estimated World Prices 2 £/tonne Common Levy 3 £/tonne United Kingdom MCA3 £/tonne United Kingdom Net Levy 3 9 p/lb Maize 136.52 72.77 56.45 8.28 2.73 Rice 415.04 184.04 212.53 — 9.64 Olive oil 920.37 667.76 185.60 — 8.42 Sugar 319.91 165.74 179.60 25.31 88.63 Notes:
1 Prices ruling as at 18 March 1982. Beef and veal-intervention price converted to carcase equivalent using 55 per cent. killing out co-efficient; sheepmeat-guide price; pigmeat-lowest buying price although in practice support is through occasion aids to private storage rather than buying in; poultrymeat and eggs-sluicegate price plus basic levy; milk-milk equivalent intervention price; butter-intervention price for 82 per cent. butter; skimmed milk powder, barley-intervention price; common wheat-reference price; white sugar-United Kingdom intervention price including storage levy. Maize, rice and olive oil-threshold price. The support prices have been converted from ECUs at the representive rate of £1=1.61641 ECUs.
2 "World prices" have been taken as the minimum offer prices of imports underlying the calculation of the variable levies and have been calculated by subtracting the levy in ECUs applicable on 18 March from the appropriate threshold guide price in ECUs. The beef price is also adjusted for duty. For poultrymeat and eggs the "world price" has been taken as the sluicegate price less supplementary levies; the sluicegate price has been taken for pigmeat. The "world prices" have been converted from ECUs at the market rate used for calculating MCAs on 18 March of £1=1.77864 ECUs.
3 The rates of levy and United Kingdom MCAs in force on 18 March 1982. These rates vary for different tariff headings. The rates quoted are: beef and veal-carcase; pigmeat-carcase; poultrymeat-70 per cent. chickens; rice-wholly milled long grain; olive oil-virgin lampante.
4 Most imports of beef from third countries are subject to special arrangements allowing entry at reduced levy rates.
5 Imports of lamb under voluntary restraint agreements with principal suppliers are subject to a reduced charge of 10 per cent. ad valorem. Any imports outside these arrangements are subject to levies which cannot exceed the 20 per cent. tariff rate bound in the GATT.
6 There is virtually no trade in liquid milk on world markets.
7 A special lower rate of levy is applicable to imports of butter from New Zealand.
8 In practice United Kingdom imports from third countries are normally covered by the Lome convention and enter the Community levy-free.
9 The United Kingdom net levy is obtained by multiplying the common levy by the United Kingdom monetary co-efficient of 0.919 and adding the United Kingdom MCA.