§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food if he will revise the figures for the prices paid to United Kingdom farmers for sugar beet in his reply of 25 February, Official Report, c. 468, on sugar prices to take account of changes in the terms and conditions of sale to the British Sugar Corporation, in particular the revenue from the change in the ownership of beet pulp.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerBefore entry into the European Community a price was determined for sugar beet and the value of pulp was not separately identified. Under Community regulations, a minimum price is prescribed for beet excluding pulp, and the pulp must be either returned to the grower or purchased for a separate payment negotiated between the parties. The latter option has been adopted in the United Kingdom and payments for pulp were included in the figures quoted in my previous reply so the particular adjustment referred to by the hon. Member is not needed. There was, however, a change in the arrangements for transport and note 2 in my previous reply properly applied only from 1973 onwards. If transport allowances paid in each of the years since then were added, the whole series would represent factory gate prices. The adjusted figures are: 173W
£ per metric tonne (nominal) £ per metric tonne at 1980 prices 1973 10.06 28.35 1974 13.52 32.85 1975 18.48 36.15 1976 16.42 27.57 1977 21.93 31.77 1978 23.72 31.73 1979 28.28 33.36 1980 27.93 27.93
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he takes into account the cost of refining sugar for the purposes of the negotiations in Brussels; and whether he will publish in the Official Report the profits made by the refiners of (a) beet sugar and (b) cane sugar on their total refining operations and per unit of output for each year since 1970.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe cost of refining beet sugar in the United Kingdom is not relevant because all such sugar produced here is now processed direct from sugar beet with no intervening raw sugar stage. So far as cane sugar is concerned, the need to maintain a viable refining industry is an important factor in the annual negotiation with the producing countries of the guaranteed price for raw sugar supplied under the sugar protocol to the Lomé convention. This price is the basis of the commercial negotiations which determine the price actually paid by the refiners for their raw material.
CCT Code United Kingdom net levy as percentage of United Kingdom intervention price or equivalent Common levy as percentage of intervention price or equivalent Common wheat 1001BI 49 45 Barley 1003 49 45 Maize 1005B *54 51 Sugar 1701A †66 65 Pigmeat 0201A IIIa1 34 28 Beef 0201A IIa1 54 50 Butter 0403A 47 42 Skimmed milk powder 0402A IIb1 48 43 * Intervention is not available for maize in the United Kingdom. † United Kingdom imports of sugar from third countries are mainly from ACP countries which enter the United Kingdom levy free. The figures included in the table are based on the full rate of levy.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing United Kingdom consumption of each of the principal agricultural products by (a) persons and (b) livestock; the value in each case in terms of the current world price, and the value of each in terms of (i) the European Economic Community target or comparable price and (ii) the intervention or minimum price.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithMuch of this information is provided in answers which I gave to the hon. Member on 8 December.—[Vol. 14, c. 366–70.] I would only add that supplies of cereals for animal feed in the United Kingdom amounted to approximately 12 million tonnes in 1980.
174WOn the second part of the question, I refer the hon. Member to the annual reports of Tate and Lyle and of Manbre and Garton, who refined raw sugar during all and part of this period respectively.