§ Mr. Biffenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the average prices paid by Great Britain and the USSR, respectively, for butter and beef purchased from the continental members of the EEC since 1st January 1973.
§ Mr. BishopNo single average price for either butter or beef imported into the United Kingdom can take account of the wide differences in the type, quality and presentation of produce traded. However, the average unit values of butter and of all presentations of fresh, chilled and frozen beef imported into the United Kingdom from the other members of the EEC during 1973 and 1974 were £532 per ton for butter and £620 per ton for beef. These values exclude the effect of monetary compensatory amounts paid as subsidies on imports into the United Kingdom.
Corresponding figures for the USSR are not available, but the ex-store price of butter sold to the USSR from Community intervention stocks in 1973 was £141 per ton. Sales of intervention beef are arranged by private traders and no precise figures are available for the price paid by the USSR for imports from the EEC.