§ Mr. Spearingasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the standard rate of payment made by the United Kingdom Intervention Board to those organisations which store food on its behalf for each major commodity it purchases; and on what basis are such sums calculated.
§ Mr. BishopThe charges for storage are negotiated either with individual storage companies or with trade organisations representative of sectors of the storage industry. These negotiations are a matter of commercial confidence and I am unable therefore to publish the rates agreed.
§ Mr. Spearingasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what 534W were the total amounts paid by the United Kingdom Intervention Board in 1977 for (a) purchase of all agricultural products, and (b) storage of products purchased for intervention.
§ Mr. BishopFull details of these costs will be given in the Intervention Board's annual report for 1977. The cost of agricultural products purchased in 1977 was approximately £76.5 million and costs of handling, storage, transport, freezing and insurance and evaluation of stocks amounted to approximately £7.2 million.