§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the implications of the decision of the European Court on 29 November relating to financial aid for campaigns aimed at boosting domestic sales of national products for the £14 million which he has allocated to the "Food from Britain" project; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe European Court judgment related to a "Buy Irish" campaign sponsored by the Irish Government, the stated purpose of which was the protection of the Irish economy from imports by means of import substitution. Food from Britain is not a parallel. Like the agricultural marketing organisations of certain other Community countries, such as SOPEXA in France and CMA in Germany, which have not been challenged by the European Commission the objective of "Food from Britain" will be to improve agricultural and food marketing in the widest sense on both the home and export markets. The achievement of quality, consistency and value for money in British food will be its priorities.