§ Mr. Maclennanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the meeting of the Council of Agriculture Ministers on 26 and 27 May.
§ Mr. JoplingThe Council decided to prolong for a further month the partial suspension of negative monetary compensatory amounts of pigs, eggs and poultry which had been agreed as a temporary measure at last month's price-fixing negotiations. The amount of MCA suspended for the United Kingdom continues to be closely in line with that for France, thus avoiding trade distortions as between these two countries. The Commission intends shortly to propose permanent changes in the method of calculating MCAs in these sectors.
Following the accession of Spain and Portugal to the Community, the Council considered proposals defining the parts of these two countries which are to be classified as agriculturally less-favoured areas, thus enabling special support measures to be applied. A proposal for a substantial extension of the less-favoured areas in Germany was also considered. The Council agreed in principle to these proposals, subject to the opinion of the European Parliament.
Finally, the Council adopted two measures designed to harmonise rules within the Community relating to pesticides and thereby improve freedom of trade. One measure fixes maximum residue limits for pesticides in cereals and in products of animal origin. The other prohibits the use of ethylene oxide as a pesticide but 488W permits its continued use for a number of purposes until 31 December 1989. This is intended to allow time for effective alternative treatments to be developed.