§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the present levy on milk under EEC regulations; and what is the proposed levy.
§ Mr. BishopAt present the EEC co-responsibility levy on milk is set at 0.5 per cent. of the target rate. As part of its proposals for the fixing of agricultural prices for 1979–80, the EEC Commission has proposed, from 1 June 1979, a variable co-responsibility levy. This would be calculated every four months at the rate of 1 per cent. of the target price for every ½ per cent. increase in the total178W United Kingdom food prices with those currently existing in Germany.
§ Mr. John SilkinThe information requested under the three support price assumptions is given in the table below. A 5 per cent. devaluation of the representative—green—rate for the pound would raise United Kingdom support prices of products subject to monetary compensatory amounts by 5.3 per cent. A full devaluation of 22.9 per cent. sufficient to eliminate existing United Kingdom monetary compensatory amounts, would raise support prices by 29.7 per cent. whilst harmonisation of United Kingdom support prices with those currently existing in Germany would involve increases of 45 per cent.
volume of milk delivered to dairies in the EEC over the average of the levels in the corresponding periods in the previous two years, subject to a minimum rate of levy of 2 per cent. The exact rate of levy to be applied under the proposals will therefore depend on the level of production in the Community.
§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about current EEC proposals relating to milk surplus levy, his attitude to the proposals and their likely effect on dairy farms in the United Kingdom.
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§ Mr. BishopAs my right hon. Friend indicated in his reply of 15 February to my right hon. Friend the Member for Anglesey (Mr. Hughes), he regards direct action on the level of support prices as being the most effective way to secure a balanced market in the EEC milk sector, and would in any case be opposed to the exemptions which the Commission has proposed for the co-responsibility levy as these would discriminate against our own larger, more efficient producers—[Vol. 962, c.607–8.] It is not possible at this stage to say precisely what effect the levy would have on those dairy producers in the United Kingdom who were not exempt from it, but the arrangement proposed would clearly reduce significantly their average net margin.