§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has as to how many European Economic Community countries impose quantitative restrictions upon the level of potato production.
§ Mr. RyderThe United Kingdom is the only member state to impose quantitative restrictions. These are operated by the Potato Marketing Board, which controls production in Great Britain by regulating plantings under a quota system.
§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what studies have been made of the564W impact of the intervention policies of the Potato Marketing Board upon (a) the prices paid by the consumer and (b) profitability for growers.
§ Mr. RyderI am not aware of any studies on these specific points, but I refer my hon. Friend to two more general studies: "Potatoes in Surplus" by L. Hinton (Occasional Paper No. 37, Department of Land Economy, Cambridge University, 1987) and "An Econometric Model of the Maincrop Potato Market in Great Britain", by C. Ennew and B. White (Report No. 1/88, Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.).
§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the level of imports of potato products during each of the past five years.
§ Mr. RyderThe following tonnages of potato products were imported into the United Kingdom:
Crop year (June/May) '000 tonnes 1983–84 411 1984–85 369 1985–86 348 1986–87 377 1987–88 430 Source: Customs and Excise Overseas Trade Statistics.