§ Sir Richard BodyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will direct the Potato Marketing Board to reconsider its refusal to increase the quota allowed to organic growers in those cases where they can show they are unable to meet demand.
§ Mr. MacGregorResponsibility for managing the potato quota system rests with the Potato Marketing Board and it would not be appropriate for me to intervene.
§ Sir Richard BodyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make it his policy to study the Dutch system of potato marketing and its success in exporting to different countries before reaching a decision upon the future of the Potato Marketing Board.
§ Mr. MacGregorI am already aware of the Dutch arrangements.
§ Sir Richard BodyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many tonnes of potatoes the potato processing industry has used for each of the last five years; and how many tonnes have been imported from the Netherlands for processing for the same years.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe following tonnages were used by the United Kingdom potato processing industry.
Crop year Thousand tonnes (July-June) 1983–84 1,252 1984–85 1,404 1985–86 1,417 1986–87 1,466 1987–88 1,442 The import figures do not distinguish between imports for processing and other imports.