HC Deb 09 March 1982 vol 19 c386W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will reproduce the table prepared by his Department, set out on page 45 of the second report of the Select Committee of the House of Lords on European Communities on agricultural trade policy—HL 29, Session 1981–82—showing the reductions in rates of duty which were agreed in the Tokyo round and how the weighted average reductions in the tariff on these items compared with the weighted average reduction on manufactured goods.

Mr. Buchanan-Smith

The rate of duty on cocoa was reduced from 5.4 per cent. to 3.0 per cent.; for other items the rates were not changed. It would not be appropriate to calculate a weighted average tariff reduction over all agricultural products arising from such a change; the director general of GATT has not made such a calculation on the grounds that trade in many products was affected by measures other than tariffs. The GATT directorate has calculated, however, that the weighted average reduction in the common external tariff on finished manufactured goods was 29 per cent. and on semi-manufactured goods 27 per cent.

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