§ Mr. Wellbelovedasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now make a statement about shares of the bacon market in 1968–69.
§ Mr. HoyFor the 12 months beginning in April 1968, the minimum allocation for home production of bacon under the international market-sharing Understanding has again been set at 233,240 tons, which is some 30,000 tons higher than the estimated level of home production in 1967–68. Any level of production higher than this allocation would certainly presuppose an excessive diversion of pigs from the pork and manufacturing markets, which take some three-quarters of the pigmeat produced in the United Kingdom.
To ensure that supplies for consumers are adequate the minimum allocations to overseas suppliers will also be unchanged for 1968–69, as will the minimum total quantity of 632,500 tons from all sources, and the arrangements for adding as necessary to minimum allocations from any source, including home production.