§ Mr. John H. Osbornasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what 432W is now the market price of beef; and what is the cost per cwt. of fattening beef at the present time in the various main agricultural regions of the country, and also expressed as a national average.
§ Mr. BuchanFor the week ending 23rd April 1974 the average market price for fat cattle recorded on representative markets in Great Britain was £18.38 per live cwt. It is not possible to generalise about the cost of fattening beef which varies widely according to area and system of production.
§ Mr. Biffenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement detailing the attitude of the British Government towards the alternative methods of disposal of intervention stocks of beef within the EEC in the light of Britain's financial contributions to the common agricultural fund and the need to avoid disrupting extra-Community trade by dumping fortuitous surpluses.
§ Mr. PeartThe EEC Commission is following up a suggestion made by the United Kingdom that ways should be found of giving consumers in the Community the benefit of the availability of supplies of intervention beef. In whatever way these stocks are disposed of, it is clearly desirable to ensure that market disruption is avoided.