§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what levy is paid on imports of New Zealand butter and cheese; and what proportion this is of the landed price.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe current net levy on imports of butter from New Zealand is £381 per tonne and on imports of cheese £271 per tonne.
Information on the landed price represented by the levy for butter is not available since the new regulation does not require observance of a minimum import price and there have, as yet, been no imports under the new arrangements. The levy on cheese represents 15.3 per cent. of the landed price.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what progress has been made in the negotiations to secure continuing access to the United Kingdom market for New Zealand butter and cheese;
(2) what quantity of butter was imported into the United Kingdom in 1980; what are the current arrangements as to quotas; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithAt its meeting on 30–31 March, the Council of Agriculture Ministers adopted a regulation which authorises the United Kingdom to import 94,000 tonnes of New Zealand butter in 1981 and 92,000 tonnes in 1982 under special terms including a reduced import levy. The regulation, which is acceptable to the New Zealand Government, also provides for the determination by 1 October 1982 by the Agriculture Council of the quantity of New Zealand butter which may be imported into the United Kingdom in 1983; and for a decision by the Council, on the basis of a report and proposal from the Commission, before 1 August 1983 on the arrangements to apply from 1 January 1984. There are no special arrangements for imports of butter from other sources. 208,486 tonnes of butter were imported into the United Kingdom from all sources in 1980.
As regards New Zealand cheese, an agreement between the European Community and New Zealand, which was signed in 1979 as part of the GATT multilateral trade negotiations, provides for the annual importation into the European Community of 6,500 tonnes of New Zealand cheddar for direct consumption and 3,000 tonnes of New Zealand cheddar cheese for processing at a reduced rate of levy subject to the observance of a minimum cif price. These arrangements entered into force on 1 January 1980.