HC Deb 23 December 1976 vol 923 cc282-3W
Mr. Lee

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will list those imported foodstuffs, emanating from outside the Common Market, which were not subject to import duties on 31st December 1972 and whicht are now so subject; what his estimate of the total cost per annum resulting from these duties, based upon the experience of the last four years; and what is his estimate of the likely cost per annum when the common agricultural policy has been fully implemented in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Meacher

Very few foodstuffs were not subject to import duty on 31st December 1972. The main ones that were then exempt are summarised in the list below. Most of the basic temperate agricultural products have since entry to the EEC become subject to agricultural levy in place of duty. Information about the total costs of duties on goods exempt from duty on 31st December 1972 is not readily available, but it would be a very small fraction of the total import duty on foodstuffs which in 1975 was about £70 million, excluding levy.

Full details of the foodstuffs not subject to import duty in 1972 can be found in Schedule 1 to the Import Duties (General) (No. 5) Order 1975 (S.I. 1744); they are those goods for which the entry in column 3 includes "S—" (and also tarragon, fresh or chilled ex 07.01T, which appears in Schedule 2). The current full rates are those in column 3 prefixed "F".

  • Beef and veal*
  • Certain offals
  • Meat of mutton and lamb, salted, in brine, dried or smoked
  • Wet salted split fish other than cod
  • Tarragon*
  • Preserved olives, capers, gherkins and sweet peppers
  • Frozen asparagus*
  • Dried asparagus, celery and onions*
  • Dried garlic, sweet peppers and tomatoes
  • Dates other than in bulk
  • Coconuts, whole shelled or not
  • Almonds (other than bitter) not in shell
  • Pecans
  • Hazel nuts, not in shell
  • Apples (from 16th August to 15th April)
  • Bilberries, fresh, frozen or dried
  • Grapefruit, frozen, provisionally preserved or preserved
  • Cherries, provisionally preserved or preserved
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  • Orange, clementine, mandarin or tangerine pulp not containing the peel, frozen, provisionally preserved or preserved
  • Lemons, oranges, clementines, mandarins and tangerines, comminuted entire, provisionally preserved or preserved
  • Dried fruits the following: peaches, nectarines, prunes, apples and pears and mixtures of those fruits
  • Peel of melons and citrus fruit, fresh, frozen, dried or provisionally preserved Peppercorns
  • Seeds of anise, badian, fennel, coriander, cumin and juniper
  • Saffron stigma and styles
  • Cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted
  • Cocoa paste
  • Cocoa butter
  • Cocoa powder, unsweetened
  • Tapioca and sago
  • Certain forms of tomato pulp or paste
  • Prepared or preserved fruit, the following: Peaches not containing added sweetening;
  • Apricots not containing added sweetening Mixtures of certain fruits

* The import duties on these goods were temporarily suspended on 31st December 1972.