§ 21. Mr. Wallasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the measures he is proposing to take to prevent the dumping of subsidised foreign fish.
§ Mr. BishopA wide variety of factors could be responsible for the current state of the fish market and indeed in the early months of the year the firsthand prices of the main fish species almost always fall.
On imports, my right hon. Friend has been in touch with M. Lardinois, who has promised the European Parliament that he will make early proposals for improving 585W the reference price system. We are following this up.
The Norwegian Government have recognised the unstable elements in the market and has raised price levels under its minimum export price arrangements by 8 per cent. to 10 per cent. This change will constitute a contribution towards market stability and we interpret this gesture as a helpful one which will be welcome to the United Kingdom industry.