§ Sir Peter Millsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, if he will revise the draft Dairy Produce Quota Regulations 1984, laid before Parliament on 27 June.
§ Mr. JoplingMy right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and I have, following the debate of 3 July in the House of Commons, withdrawn the draft which was laid on 27 June and have today laid a revised draft which takes account of comments made by hon. Members and by interested organisations. The main changes are as follows.
First, a new regulation has been introduced to provide for quota to be allocated to help producers who made commitments before 2 April 1984 as a result of which they are now unable to obtain as much quota as they need to sustain their businesses, and who would suffer exceptional hardship because of this.Secondly, an arrangement is introduced whereby two producers may, with the consent of the Minister concerned, exchange direct sales and wholesale quota.Thirdly, purchasing dairies are enabled to manage quotas by agreeing with a producer that he can move to a different farm and take his quota with him. This will apply only where the move takes place after the regulations come into effect and where the person taking over the original farm and the landlord agree to the transfer of the quota.Fourthly, producers in Great Britain will be given five weeks instead of four to apply for additional quota under the special case provisions, and for registration as direct sellers.Fifthly, in order to enable the dairy produce quota tribunals for England and Wales and for Northern ireland to deal with cases more expeditiously, the maximum number of members is increased from seven to 12.A number of other minor changes have been made.I believe that these changes in response to parliamentary comment will contribute very effectively to ensuring that the quota system will operate in the most equitable and efficient way possible.