§ Mr. Dan Jonesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now state the outcome of his negotiations with overseas suppliers of Cheddar cheese to the United Kingdom market.
§ Mr. Cledwyn HughesI am glad to say that arrangements have now been concluded with all the Governments concerned for voluntary restraint on deliveries of cheddar and cheddar-type cheese to our market in the period 1st April, 1970 423W to 31st March, 1971. Details of the tonnages are set out in the table below.
CHEDDAR AND CHEDDAR.TYPE CHEESE Imports—1st April, 1970 to 31st March, 1971 Quantity (thousand tons) New Zealand and Australia 86.6 Irish Republic 17.5 Canada (see note 3 below) Netherlands 5.4 France 4.9 Denmark 1.5 Norway 1.3 South Africa 0.65 Notes
1. Australia and New Zealand have agreed to continue to operate restraint on a joint basis.
2. Imports of cheddar and cheddar-type cheese from Eastern European countries do not come within these restraint arrangements since they are already limited by quota under bilateral trade agreements. These supplies, together with small supplies from other sources, are not expected to exceed 1,000 tons.
3. 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 period 1st April, 1970 to 31st March, 1971 such sales will be limited to 14,900 tons.