§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total amount of food and wine exported by the EEC to the Soviet Union and the Soviet bloc, respectively, in the most recent annual period for which figures are available; what were the comparable figures in the same periods of each of the previous seven years; and if he has any information of the cost to the EEC of these exports, respectively, by way of export rebates.
§ Mr. Buchanan-Smith:As explained in my reply of 14 June figures for 1981 for the Community as a whole are unlikely to be available before the end of the year. The volumes of the main agricultural commodities exported to the Soviet Union in the years 1976 to 1980 were contained in my reply of 8 June.—[Vol. 25, c. 26–28.] As explained in my reply of 15 July, figures for earlier years are not available.
Further figures for exports by the Community to the rest of Eastern Europe are shown in the following table. Information on the total cost of export refunds on these sales is not readily available.
202W
European Community Exports of Agricultural Produce to Eastern Europe (Excluding USSR)† 000 Tonnes 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 Wheat 775 1 11 760 1,880 Barley 330 44 1,959 1,801 1,580 Wheat Flour * 4 * * 6 Malt 48 9 * 1 * Butter 1 5 8 16 15 Skimmed Milkpowder 5 81 16 21 6 Beef and Veal 23 31 21 57 122 Pigmeat, * 4 * * 7 Poultrymeat * * 1 * 2 Sugar (refined) 15 27 11 10 31 Wine (thousand hectolitres) 140 139 135 147 162
* Less than 500 tonnes †Countries included are German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania.