§ Mr. Spearingasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in the Official Report for each class of agricultural product subject to common agricultural policy; the current world prices, the lowest current offer price used for the purposes of calculating the EEC common levies and the amount of such levies, all in terms of the £ sterling at the current market rate of exchange.
§ Mr. BishopEEC common levies are actually expressed in sterling after conversion at the representative rate. When converted to sterling at the current market rate of exchange (£1=1.28571ua), the levies for the main CAP commodities on 25th January were as follows:
669W The lowest current offer prices for particular consignments are used by the Commission for calculating these levies but are not published. These offer prices do not represent a "world" price at which significant quantities would be regularly traded nor can such "world" prices be calculated in the abstract.
Item (and CCT no.) Levy (£/100 kg) Common wheat (10.01A) 6.375 Barley (10.03) 3.050 Maize (10.05B) 3.829 White Sugar (17.01A) 14.016 Butter (82per cent.-84 per cent. fat content 04.03A) 143.20 Cheddar cheese (04.04 EI (b) 1(bb)) 120.07 Boneless frozen beef (02.01A II (a)2(dd) 22(ccc)) 132.67 FOOTNOTES:—Beef imports from third countries are at present allowed only under special arrangements to which nil or reduced rates of levy apply rather than the standard rate given above.
Special rates of levy apply to imports of butter and cheese from New Zealand. These are 100 ua per 100 kg and 82 ua per 100 kg respectively.
§ Mr. Spearingasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in the Official Report for each class of agricultural product subject to CAP policies: the target price, the intervention price, and, where appropriate, the threshold price, all in terms of the £ sterling at the current market rate of exchange.
§ Mr. BishopThese prices are actually expressed in sterling after conversion at the representative rate. The table below gives the CAP prices for January 1977 for some major commodities, converted from units of account to sterling at the rate of £1 = 1.28571 uas. For more detailed information, I would refer my hon. Friend to the booklet of "EEC Common and UK Transition Prices 1975–76 to 1976–77 Agricultural Commodities" prepared by my Department, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
670W
EEC CAP COMMON PRICES, JANUARY 1977 £ per 100 kg Common wheat Target price … … 12.37 Intervention price … … 10.74 Threshold price … … 12.16 Barley Target price … … 11.27 Intervention price … … 9.57 Threshold price … … 11.06
Maize Target price … … 11.27 Intervention price … … 9.28 Threshold price … … 11.06 Beef—adult cattle Guide price … … 92.35 Butter 82 per cent. fat content Intervention price … … 174.1 Threshold price … … 190.2 Cheese—Cheddar type Threshold price … … 164.1 Sugar—White Target price … … 27.12 Intervention price … … 25.78(a) Threshold price … … 29.72 (a) Original member countries (except Italy) plus Denmark. Separate prices are applicable in the United Kingdom in some cases whilst transition arrangements apply.
There are no separate target prices for butter, cheese and skimmed milk powder and intervention prices are fixed only for certain types of Italian cheeses. There is no single intervention price for beef and the buying-in prices vary according to quality and country.