Food Imports and Exports (Hansard, 25 May 1977)

§ Mr. John Silkin

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 18th May 1977], gave the following information:

Ranked according to expenditure per head, as recorded in the 1976 National Food Survey, the 10 most important food groups in the diet of the average household are (1) meat other than carcase meat—including bacon, ham, poultry, manufactured products; (2) carcase meat; (3) liquid milk; (4) bread; (5) cakes and biscuits; (6) oils and fats—butter, margarine, etc.; (7) potatoes; (8) processed vegetables; (9) fish and fish products; (10) fresh fruit.

Much food is imported or exported in raw form but is bought by households as processed products. So the classification of food for the National Food Survey differs considerably from that for trade statistics. Moreover, it is not possible to give self-sufficiency statistics for manufactured food which may be produced from home-grown or imported commodities. The following table contains statistics 491W which are related as closely as possible to the information requested on self-sufficiency and on the percentages of total

Table I
NFS Ranking	Commodity	Percentage of Home Produced	United Kingdom Imported from EEC	Supplies in 1976^* Imported from Rest of World
1	Bacon and ham	…	…	46	50	4
Poultry meat	…	…	99	§	§
2	Carcase meat and offals	…	…	77	8	15
3	Liquid milk	…	…	100	0	0
4 and 5	Wheat and flour	…	…	56	22	22
6	Butter	…	…	18	56	26
	Oils and fats†	…	…	17	28	55
7	Potatoes	…	…	79	5	16
8	Canned vegetables	…	…	77	11	12
9	Fish	…	…	88	4	8
10	Citrus fruit	…	…	0	5	95
Apples and pears‡	…	…	48	34	18
^* Provisional.
† Imports include some for industrial use.
‡ Crop year 1975–76.
§ Insignificant.,

Source: Food Facts: United Kingdom Sources of Supply for Food and Feedingstuffs.

The following table gives the data requested about imported supplies in 1971

Table II
NFS Ranking	Commodity	Quantity [...]000 tons	United Kingdom Imports in 1971 Largest Suppliers
1	Bacon and ham	…	…	369	Denmark
Poultry meat	…	…	11	Denmark
2	Carcase meat and offal	…	720	Irish Republic, New Zealand
3	Liquid milk	…	…	0	—
4 and 5	Wheat and flour	…	…	4,631^*	Australia, Canada, France, U.S.A.
6	Butter	…	…	384	Australia, Denmark, Irish Republic. New Zealand, U.S.A.
Oils and fats	…	…	1,287†	Canada, Malaysia, Netherlands, Singapore, U.S.A.
7	Potatoes	…	…	369‡	Cyprus
8	Canned vegetables	…	…	212	Italy
9	Fish	…	…	150	Denmark, Norway
10	Citrus fruit	…	…	485	Cyprus, Israel, South Africa, Spain
Apples and pears	…	…	314	Australia, France, Italy, South Africa
^* Wheat equivalent.
† Crude oil equivalent (some for industrial use)
‡ New crop.

Source: Food Facts: Annual Statement of Overseas Trade of United Kingdom.

The following table gives the data requested about exports from the EEC

Table III
Total Exports from EEC to Third Countries (latest available year)
NFS Ranking	Commodity	Year	Quantity(000 tonnes)
1 and 2	Beef and veal	…	…	…	…	…	1975	348
Mutton and lamb	…	…	…	…	…	1975	4
Pigmeat	…	…	…	…	…	1975	232
Poultry meat	…	…	…	…	…	1975	138
3	Liquid milk	…	…	…	…	…	1975	237
4 and 5	Wheat and flour	…	…	…	…	…	1975–76	7,790^*
6	Butter	…	…	…	…	…	1975	58
	Vegetable oils and fats	…	…	…	…	…	1974–75	722
7	Potatoes	…	…	…	…	…	1975–76	637
8	Vegetables (canned)	…	…	…	…	…	1975–76	125
9	Fish	…	…	…	…	…	1975	71
10	Citrus fruits	…	…	…	…	…	1975–76	250
	Apples and pears	…	…	…	…	…	1975–76	259
^* Wheat equivalent.

Source: Statistical Office of European Communities.

492W

supplies imported by the United Kingdom from the EEC and from third countries.

for the commodities included in Table I:

for commodities linked as closely as possible with those in Tables I and II:

493W