§ Mr. CannTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what response he has made to the recommendation in the second report of the Agriculture Committee, Session 1991–92, on the trade gap in food and drink, as regards the sugar quota.
§ Mr. CurryThe Government's response to the Agriculture Committee's report on the trade gap in food and drink was published on 17 June—;Cm 1982. Copies were deposited in the Libraries of the House.
§ Mr. CannTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will seek to increase the EC quota for British sugar beet production to a level equal to or exceeding the domestic consumption.
§ Mr. CurryThe Commission has not yet made proposals for the reform of the EC sugar regimes for beet and cane sugar: we are pressing them to do so. United Kingdom domestic sugar consumption is supplied both from sugar processed from beets and from sugar refined from cane, imported under the Lome sugar protocol. There is no case for seeking to increase beet sugar quota to cover our consumption. However, in any review of EC sugar quotas, the United Kingdom will argue for an increase in our share of the total.