§ 19. Mr. Dennis Waltersasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of milk produce goes into intervention in Great Britain, and in the EEC as a whole.
§ Mr. BishopOnly butter and skimmed milk powder are bought in by the intervention agencies, except in Italy where the intervention commodity is cheese. Intervention purchases of this produce vary according to the state of the market, but in 1975 about 3½ per cent. of the EEC's production of milk fat is estimated to have gone into intervention stores and 10¼ per cent. of its production of other milk solids. In the United Kingdom no milk fat went into intervention stores but about 1⅓ per cent. of our production of other milk solids is estimated to have done so. Separate figures for Great Britain are not available. To these figures should be added a small amount of Italian cheese.