HC Deb 25 October 1973 vol 861 cc587-8W
Mr. Jay

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the present level of import levy or duty imposed on butter, cheese, mutton and lamb, beef, bacon and pork, canned ham, sugar, oranges and tomatoes, respectively, imported into the United Kingdom from outside the EEC.

Mr. Anthony Stodart

The present level of import duty or duty imposed on the products listed in the Question is as follows:

PRESENT LEVEL OF IMPORT LEVY OR DUTY IMPOSED ON THE PRODUCTS LISTED IN THE QUESTION
Levy-only items
Butter—
New Zealand Nil
Oilier Countries:
80 per cent. fat £190.71 per long ton
82 per cent. fat £178.74 per long ton
Cheddar Cheese—
New Zealand £79.99 per long ton
Other Countries £217.51 per long ton
Blue veined cheese £65.14 per long ton
Bacon £1.4957 per cwt.
Pork £0.9792 per cwt.
Canned Ham £7.6888 per cwt.
Sugar—
white, denatured £37.2706 per long ton
denatured, raw £31.4522 per long ton
white, undenatured £8.4579 per long ton
other £0.0047 per cwt.

Note: The above are the current levy rates but it should be noted that levies are subject to frequent changes.

Items subject to duty and levy
Duty Levy
Beef—
Boned or boneless 8 per cent. Nil
Boned in £0.2488 Nil
per cwt.
plus
4 per cent.

Notes:

  1. (i) the rate of duty for imports from the Commonwealth preference area is 4 per cent.
  2. (ii) the rates of duty are offset by monetary compensatory amounts which reduces the effective rate virtually to nil.

Duty-only items
Mutton and lamb:
Mutton, bone in car-cases, whole £0.4667 per cwt.
Other £0.9335 per cwt.
Fresh Oranges £0.1750 per cwt.
Dried Oranges 10 per cent.
Tomatoes £0.9330 per cwi.

Notes:

  1. (i) These rates are the pre-accession United Kingdom tariff rates, which remain in force until 31st December 1973.
  2. (ii) Imports of oranges and tomatoes from the Commonwealth preference area are duty-free.

Mr. Oram

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what food commodities of which the United Kingdom is a significant importer can be made liable to import levies under existing EEC regulations; which of these commodities have in fact been subject to levies for any period since the United Kingdom joined the EEC; by how much he estimates retail prices of foods have been increased as a result of each levy; and what increase in the General Index of Retail Prices has resulted from the imposition of these levies as a whole on British food imports.

Mrs. Fenner

Under EEC regulations, import levies may be charged on the following commodities which the United Kingdom imports in significant quantities: beef, pigmeat and pigmeat products, dairy products, cereals and cereal preparations, rice, sugar and sugar preparations. With the exception of beef, imports of these commodities from third countries have been subject to levies at some time since the United Kingdom acceded to the Community. However, the impact has been reduced on most products by the application of transitional and monetary compensatory amounts. The overall effect so far of applying these levies and other measures which are part of the common agricultural policy is estimated to have been less than 1 per cent, on retail food prices. This is equivalent to an increase of about ¼ per cent, in the General Index of Retail Prices.