§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will show the breakdown of expenditure of £49 million sterling equivalent by the Guarantee Section of the EAGGF of the EEC in respect of tobacco for the year 1973, explaining the operations in respect of this crop, where it is grown in the Common Market, and providing a reference for further reading.
§ Mr. Meacher:The expenditure of the EAGGF of the European Community on tobacco in 1973 was:
£ units of account Restitutions — — Premia 48.2 115.7 Storage 1.0 2.5 49.2 118.2 The Community support arrangements involve the fixing of target—" norm"— prices for each variety to assure growers an adequate return and to encourage improvements in quality and variety. As these are generally above world prices premia are paid to buyers to encourage them to purchase direct from the growers. The intervention agencies are obliged to buy in at the intervention price, which is normally 90 per cent. of the appropriate target price, all the Community grown leaf of acceptable quality offered to them. There are arrangements to discourage the accumulation of unsaleable surpluses in the hands of the intervention agencies. Export restitutions can also be paid for certain varieties.
The main producers of tobacco in the EEC are Italy and France, while some is grown in Germany and a little in Belgium.
A full account of the Community's common agricultural policy for tobacco is contained in "The Common Agricultural Policy" published by the Commission August 1972 and the Annual Report on Agriculture 1973 COM(73) 1850 Final —1974 edition available shortly—gives an account of the operation of the system during that year.