HC Deb 11 April 1986 vol 95 cc203-4W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby on 8 April what accelerated rate of reduction of import duties is available under the provisions of article 75(4) of the treaty of Spanish accession; how quickly the procedure could reduce duties on frozen vegetables to their previous level if it is invoked; what reply he has received to his representations for activating the clause; and whether he considered requesting that duties be restored to their previous level.

Mrs. Fenner

Article 75(4) of the treaty of accession allows, inter alia, for Spanish import duties on certain products including frozen vegetables from the Ten to be abolished or reduced by management committee procedure, but only if Spain agrees. In principle, action could be taken very quickly, but so far, while the Commission has been sympathetic, Spain has not accepted the case for action. The principal objective must be to place United Kingdom exporters on at least as favourable terms as those in other countries.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby of 8 April, when the British Government first made representations to the Spanish Government to reduce the duty on frozen vegetables from Britain into Spain to its pre-accession level of 4.1 per cent.; whether the need for urgency to protect jobs was impressed on the Spanish Government; and what reply has been received.

Mrs. Fenner

Representations for a reduction in the Spanish import duty on frozen peas imported from the Ten were made to Spanish officials in Madrid on 3 April. All relevant economic considerations were stressed. No definite explicit reply was received.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food further to his reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby of 8 April why duty on frozen foods from Britain to Spain was increased by the Spanish treaty of accession; what representations were made to Spain and the Commission by Her Majesty's Government to resist that increase before it was accepted; and what other items covered by that Treaty were also increased in duty.

Mrs. Fenner

For certain products for which Spain had previously applied import restrictions in addition to tariffs, including frozen vegetables, the Common Customs Tariff was adopted as the starting point for tariff dismantlement rather than the rate actually in force before accession. As I previously informed the hon. Member a United Kingdom objection was registered to tariff increases during the accession negoltiations. however, this was not successful. The full list of food items subject to the system described above is set out in Annex VIII to the 1985 treaty of Spanish accession.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the United Kingdom can export frozen peas to Spain under the European Free Trade Association tariff of 4.5 per cent. instead of under the tariff of 15.7 per cent. which applies to fellow European Economic Community members.

Mrs. Fenner

The United Kingdom is not a member of the European Free Trade Association so this possibility does not arise.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the level of British exports of frozen peas, quantity and value, to Spain in each of the last three available years.

Mrs. Fenner

The figures requested are as follows:

Year Quantity Thousand tones Value £ Thousand
1983 6,604 2,428
1984 5,094 2,237
1985 5,782 2,564

Source: United Kingdom Overseas Trade Statistics.