§ 16. Mr. GapesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how large are the current intervention stocks of tobacco held(a) in the European Community as a whole and (b) in the United Kingdom; and how much it costs (i) the European Community and (ii) the United Kingdom Government to purchase and store these stocks of tobacco.
§ Mr. CurryThe European Commission's most recent figures show 8,313 tonnes of tobacco held in intervention stores in Greece and Italy, the Community's main tobacco producers.
In 1991, the Community spent £37 million [54 million ecu] on storing tobacco, around 4 per cent. of CAP expenditure on tobacco for that year.
The United Kingdom does not produce or store tobacco. Our budgetary contribution is made to the EC budget as a whole.