HC Deb 23 May 1979 vol 967 cc173-4W
Mr. Spearing

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the tonnages of wheat used for flour in the United Kingdom in 1978 obtained from British sources, other EEC members and outside the EEC, respectively; and what was the total levy paid on such imports.

Mr. Buchanan-Smith

The total quantities of home-grown and imported wheat used for flour during 1978 were 2,116,000 tonnes and 3,043,000 tonnes respectively. No breakdown is provided on the flour millers' returns between EEC and third country wheat milled, but an approximate split can be determined by comparison with Customs and Excise import statistics. United Kingdom imports of wheat from outside the EEC during 1978 included 1,804,844 tonnes of hard wheat, 1,544 tonnes of semi-hard and 105,999 tonnes of soft. All of the hard wheat is likely to have been used for milling and possibly a limited amount of the other grades. This would leave a residue of approximately 1.2 million tonnes of EEC wheat used for flour in the same period.

The net revenue derived from import levies on hard wheat during 1978 was—66.9 million.