§ Mr. Spearingasked the Miinster of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the purpose of the EEC in the ban on imports of beef from outside the Common Market; what notice he was given of these proposals; and whether he was a party to the decision.
§ Mr. PeartThe beef markets in the Community as a whole and in the United Kingdom faced conditions of heavy oversupply in 1974. After a series of other remedial measures had proved ineffective the Council of Ministers agreed on 16th July 1974 to suspend the issue of import
600Wfor hard wheat, maize and sugar. No suitable quotations are available for soft wheat and barley. It would be possible to construct export prices for soft wheat and barley of EEC origin by adjusting the c.i.f. United Kingdom prices for Community grain by the amount of export levies and refunds; but export levies in 1974 were set at levels intended to restrict exports and so hold Community prices well below world levels; any such constructed prices would therefore be misleading.
licences for cattle and beef, except for imports under the GATT levy-free quota, which continued to enter freely. There had been pressures for this step for some months. I did not support the proposal but accepted it as part of a package of measures, including subsidies for consumers, to deal with a difficult market situation. The situation has now improved, and I have strongly supported the successive measures the Community has taken to relax the restrictions on imports, particularly from the developing countries.