§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a state ment on his discussions in Paris with Agriculture Ministers of the Organisation for 511W Economic Co-operation and Development; to what extent he warned of high agricultural prices causing inflation; and what was the attitude of Australia.
§ Mr. BishopThe OECD Committee for Agriculture met at ministerial level in Paris on 9th and 10th February. I represented the United Kingdom. The meeting enabled Ministers to exchange views on agricultural policies with particular reference to the outlook for international agricultural markets, trends in relations with developing countries in the field of agriculture and the implications of recent developments in the food sector.
During the discussion I emphasised the need to see various elements in the food and agriculture sector in relation to the rest of the economy and cited the effect of food prices on inflation. I drew attention to the effect on agriculture of such factors as the general level of wages and incomes and movements in price of energy inputs. I also stressed the importance of a successful outcome to current agricultural trade negotiations in Geneva and the need for a better under standing of the problems of the Third World.
Australia was represented at the meeting by her ambassador and permanent represtnative to the OECD. He emphasized the need for all countries to co-operate in alleviating the difficulties of adjusting supply to demand in international agricultural markets.