§ Mr. Gardnerasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now make a statement on the outcome of his further discussions with overseas suppliers of cheddar cheese to the United Kingdom market.
§ 4. Mr. Cledwyn HughesOn 2nd April my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade announced his findings on the application made to him for the imposition of anti-dumping or countervailing duties on certain imported cheeses. The Governments of New Zealand, Australia and the Irish Republic had already agreed to co-operate in a scheme of voluntary restraint on deliveries to our market in the two-year period to 31st March, 1970, and in the light of the findings on the anti-dumping application I have been discussing with our other suppliers appropriate levels of restraint in their cases. I am glad to say that I have been able to reach agreement with all the Governments concerned, and the Board of Trade is announcing today that in these circumstances it has been decided not to impose anti-dumping or countervailing duties on cheese. Details of the restraint agreements are given in the Table below.
I shall continue to keep the position under close review.
Following is the table:
CHEDDAR AND CHEDDAR-TYPE CHEESE Permitted Imports—1st April, 1968 to 31st March, 1970 Quantity: 000 tons New Zealand and Australia 177.1 Irish Republic 35.0 Canada (see note 4 below). Netherlands 11.0 France 10.0 Denmark 3.0 Norway 2.6 South Africa 1.3 NOTES
1. After deducting the actual imports in 1968–69 from the quantities stipulated above for the two-year period the balance remaining for the current year (1st April, 1969 to 31st March, 1970) is 116.7 thousand tons.
152W2. Australia and New Zealand have agreed to operate restraint on a joint basis.
3. Imports of cheddar and cheddar type cheese from Eastern European countries do not come within these restraint arrangements, for they are already limited by quota under bilateral trading agreements. These supplies, together with small supplies from other sources, totalled approximately 1,000 tons in 1968–69, and the tonnage for 1969–70 is not expected to be in excess of that figure.
Canada. Because of the special circumstances of the trade in Canadian cheddar cheese (which is normally sold in Canada to United Kingdom buyers while immature, undergoes a long period of maturation either in Canada or the United Kingdom, and is subject to irregularity of shipment), restraint will be operated by limitation of sales by Canadian producers to United Kingdom buyers in accordance with a specific undertaking by the Canadian Government authorities. In the two-year period 1st April, 1968 to 31st March, 1970 such sales will be limited to 31,000 tons, of which 18,000 tons were sold in the year to 31st March, 1969. Actual imports to the United Kingdom are not expected to exceed 10,000 tons in the year to 31st March, 1970.