§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Minister of Overseas Development if she will publish in the Official Report the total amount in sterling pledged for 1975–76 by donor countries for food aid under the World Food Programme, and the individual amounts promised by each of the member countries of the EEC including the United Kingdom.
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§ Mrs. HartThe total pledges made to the World Food Programme to date, for the calendar biennium 1975–76, are £191.4 million. This includes approximately £40.1 million from EEC countries, as follows:
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£ million Belgium 0.364 Denmark 11.97 France Nil Germany 8.07 Ireland 0.745 Italy 0.427 Luxembourg 0.011 Netherlands 10.12 United Kingdom 8.325* * Subject to parliamentary approval a further £500,000 will be provided in the current financial year bringing the total United Kingdom contribution to £8.825 millions. In addition to these contributions the EEC and its member States have undertaken to provide 127,000 tonnes of cereals under the Food Aid Convention for the harvest year 1974–75 and 20,000 tonnes of dried skimmed milk powder for the calendar year 1975. The quantity of butter oil to be supplied in 1975 is still under consideration, but it is unlikely to be less than the 15,000 tonnes supplied for 1974. Depending on market prices and the extent to which transport and associated costs are met, the overall cost of these three commodities might be around £26 million; and, as one of the larger contributors to the WFP from its national actions, Britain's overall share of this total is likely to amount to about £6 million.