§ Mr. SternTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans the Government have for the administration of milk quotas under the new milk marketing arrangements provided for in the Agriculture Bill[Lords].
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardMuch of the day-to-day administration of milk quotas is currently carried out by the milk marketing boards. It would be wrong for this work to be passed on to the boards' successor bodies since it would give them access to commercially sensitive 245W information about the operations of their competitors. The Government intend, therefore, that from the beginning of the next quota year on 1 April 1994 the Intervention Board executive agency should assume overall responsibility for the administration of milk quotas in the United Kingdom, including those functions currently carried out by the milk marketing boards. A further announcement will be made when detailed arrangements have been finalised.
As well as transferring responsibility for the administration of milk quotas to an independent agency, we are also considering whether any other changes are necessary in the operation of the quota system to ensure that it does not tilt the playing field to anyone's advantage. We are looking in particular at the arrangements for leasing quota between producers and we will be consulting the industry on this and other issues before deciding what amendments to make to the quota regulations.