§ Mr. Sydney Chapmanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will give further details of the decisions taken by the Council of Agricultural Ministers this week in relation to New Zealand butter and cheese.
§ Mr. GodberThe regulation agreed by the Council of Agricultural Ministers on 479W 18th December provides very satisfactorily for the implementation of the protocol dealing with New Zealand butter and cheese. The regulation makes it clear that the rates of special levy on these imports must be such as to allow the full quantities specified in the protocol to be sold, at prices consistent with a return to New Zealand, at the cif stage, equal to her average price over the past four years—£361 per ton for butter, £312 for cheese. The stocks New Zealand will have in the United Kingdom at the end of 1972 are not to be taken into account in computing the 1973 import entitlement, and there will be no levy on imports made in January 1973. The regulation provides for an annual report by the Commission which will make it possible for the Council to review annually the operation of the arrangements.