Mr. Austin MichellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the difference between the guaranteed or support price for butter, cheese and lamb under the common agricultural policy and the New Zealand export price to third markets; and what is his estimate of the total cost per year in each case to United Kingdom taxpayers and consumers of the higher prices or support arrangements.
§ Mr. JackThe current intervention price for butter is 2,718 ecu/tonne. There is no common agricultural policy price for cheese in the EU. The current basic price set for sheepmeat is 3,882.3 ecu/tonne.
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Animals inspected and certified as fit for transportation prior to export from Great Britain 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1. Immediate Slaughter Cattle 150 187 1,014 136 358 Sheep 10,381 154,017 182,781 262,647 216,886 Pigs — — — — 24 Totals 10,531 154,204 183,795 262,783 217,268 2. Further Fattening Cattle — 132 574 323 1,712 Calves 142,431 190,683 365,166 234,651 302,223 Sheep 11,761 7,745 130,775 184,120 275,006 Pigs — 1,321 — — — Totals 154,192 199,881 496,515 419,094 578,941 New Zealand prices of the products to third markets are not readily available.
It is not possible to estimate the costs of agricultural support to United Kingdom consumers and taxpayers without making a large number of hypothetical assumptions about alternative policies which might obtain in the absence of the CAP, and the effects of those policies. Public expenditure in the United Kingdom under the CAP and on national grants and subsidies is given in table 9.1 of "Agriculture in the United Kingdom".
Mr. Austin MichellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the additional cost to the consumer of all forms of agricultural support including the higher prices as a result of tariff and other restrictions on imports from third countries since 1972.
§ Mr. JackAny estimate would be dependent upon hypothetical assumptions about the policies which would otherwise have obtained and the effects of those policies.
Estimates of the costs of support policies have been made in recent years by the Organisation for Economic Co—operation and Development for the EU as a whole using a particular set of assumptions. These estimates are available in OECD's annual publication "Agricultural Policies, Markets and Trade: Monitoring and Outlook Report". It should be noted, however, that the OECD figures represent an over-estimate of the savings which could be made by consumers and taxpayers because, with the abolition of agricultural support, would prices for many commodities would be higher.