§ Mr. Woofasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the latest available figures for the total milk production consumed in the home manufacture of butter and cheese; what are the levels of stocks of such commodities; how much of such commodities are imported from member countries of the European Economic Community; and how this affects the balance of payments.
§ Mr. BishopThe latest information is as follows.
The quantity of milk utilised for the manufacture of butter in the United Kingdom in the 1975–76 marketing year —April-March— was 329.7 million gallons, whilst the quantity of milk utilised for the manufacture of cheese in the same period was 489.7 million gallon.
Commercial stocks of butter and cheese at 1st October 1976 were 97,200 and 100,600 tonnes respectively. In the first nine months of this year 194,256 tonnes of butter and 78,433 tonnes of cheese were imported from the European Community at a cost of £188.7 million and £76.7 million respectively.