§ Sir W. Elliottasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the total initial cost to the Exchequer of the introduction of the Meat and Livestock Commission's proposal to introduce beef classification.
§ Mr. PeartThe Government wish to encourage the development of carcase classification to improve the marketing of meet and reduce its cost. Accordingly, the Government have decided to provide pump-priming assistance to the Meat and Livestock Commission towards the initial costs of developing systems of carcase classification for pigs, cattle and sheep. The total cost to the Exchequer is expected to be approximately £700,000 spread over a period of years. Almost £200,000 of this represents support for the introduction of a beef carcase classification. It is estimated that this support represents about 65 per cent. of the development costs during the first three years of each classification scheme.