§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will make a statement on irregularities arising from the workings of the EEC egg marketing procedures which have led to imported eggs being sold to consumers as home-produced eggs;
(2) if he is satisfied that EEC regulations on the labelling of eggs imported to the United Kingdom are being observed; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BishopWe maintain a system of regular checks to ensure compliance with the EEC regulations on the grading and labelling of eggs. Where we have found evidence of any infringement of these regulations the appropriate action has been taken.
§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the recent contraventions of Article 46 of the Treaty of Rome in relation to financial assistance being provided to eggs produced 563W abroad and imported into the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. BishopThe EEC Commission is responsible for examining the compatibility with Community rules of aids in member States. The Commission is currently studying certain national aids in the eggs sector.
§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce regulations to ensure that imported eggs are checked at the port of entry.
§ Mr. BishopRegular checks are made at the ports to ensure that boxes of eggs imported from other member States of the EEC are properly labelled and marked. Since there would be practical difficulties in making quality checks at the port these checks are made at other points in the distribution chain. Eggs imported from outside the EEC are also checked to ensure compliance with the marketing regulations.
§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take steps to ensure that British egg producers are enabled to secure interest-free loans on the same basis as French producers benefit from FORMA.
§ Mr. BishopIt has not been the policy of this Government or the previous administration to give interest-free loans to the farming industry.
§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied with the arrangements that enable the import of eggs from France, while France forbids reciprocal trading with the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. BishopThe French import controls can be justified under current EEC rules on feed additives. We are seeking changes to these rules, and we hope that it will be possible to reach conclusions in Brussels in April.
§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the situation in the egg-producing industry, in the light of experience of the operation of the EEC system of prices and levies.
§ Mr. BishopI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon.564W Member for Devon, West (Mr. Mills) yesterday.
§ Mr. Crawfordasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of eggs have been imported into the United Kingdom from France in 1975.
§ Mr. BishopOfficial figures for imports in January 1975 are not yet available, but it is estimated that approximately 60,000 boxes of eggs were imported from France in that month.