HC Deb 12 December 1977 vol 941 cc79-82W
Mr. Farr

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the latest acreage of United Kingdom sugar beet production; and how this compares with predictions from "Food From Our Own Resources".

Mr. Bishop

The provisional results of the 1977 June census show 202,000 hectares of sugar beet. "Food From Our Own Resources" did not predict acreages but gave a possible level of production of sugar beet in 1980 of 9,450,000 tons (9,600,000 tonnes).

Mr. Spearing

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will set out in the Official Report a table showing the quotas allocated to each of the States associated with the Lomé sugar protocol for each of the years of the agreement, the surplus or shortfall for each year, and quotas and estimates for the current year.

Mr. Bishop

This information is set out below for member States of the Lomé Convention and related agreements. The figures are those provided by the EEC. All over-deliveries and any under-deliveries falling with in a small tolerance are set against the following year's agreed quantities, but separate arrangements apply to shortfalls in excess of this tolerance. In the 1975–76 delivery year—1st July to 30th June—six countries failed to deliver their agreed quantities. In the case of Fiji and Mauritius this was accepted as being due to reasons offorce majeure but Maritius' shortfall was, at her own request, carried forward into the following delivery year.

In the case of the Congo, Kenya, Surinam and Uganda the Commission did not regard the shortfalls as being due to force majeure but following representations from the ACP States the Community agreed as an autonomous political gesture to allow an additional period for delivery of these shortfalls up to 31st December 1977. Since this delivery will be in addition to the agreed quantities for the 1976–77 delivery year it is too early to indicate what the final over or under-delivery will be for the four countries concerned. Because some ACP sugar is delivered to other member States of the Community it is not possible to give an estimate of deliveries for the current delivery year.

All figures in metric tonnes White Sugar equivalent
Period to 30th June 1975 agreed quantity Over/under delivery 1975–76 agreed quantity Over/under delivery 1976–77 agreed quantity Over/under delivery 1977–78 agreed quantity
Barbados 29,600 -835 49,300 +194 49,300 -47 49,300
Belize 14,800 +121 39,400 +608 39,400 +1,908 39,400
Congo 0 10,000 -10,000 10,000
Fiji 25,600 +2,824 163,600 0 163,600 +665 163,600
Guy[...]na 29,600 +89 157,700 -3,451 157,700 +1,501 157,700
India 22,000 -382 25,000 -473 25,000 +1,195 25,000
Jamaica 83,800 -38 118,300 +1,580 118,300 +1,237 118,300
Kenya 0 5,000 -5,000 5,000
Madagascar 2,000 +51 10,000 +85 10,000 +109 10,000
Malawi 0 20,000 +3 20,000 +466 20,000
Mauritius 65,300 +154 487,200 -65,463 487,200 -3,552 487,200
St. Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla 8,000 -91 14,800 +2,856 14,800 +664 14,800
Surinam 0 4,000 -3,904 4,000
Swaziland 19,700 +5,541 116,400 +3,444 116,400 +6,090 116,400
Tanzania 0 10,000 +125 10,000 +595 10,000
Trinidad and Tobago 54,200 +121 69,000 +59 69,000 +3,29[...] 69,000
Uganda 0 5,000 -2,042 5,000

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