§ Mr. Nelsonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements he is adopting to implement the scheme for a special sale of butter over the Christmas period.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerIn the United Kingdom 23,500 tonnes of butter are available from intervention stocks and aided private storage for sale at a reduced price over the coming weeks. Supplies are being released to butter packers and importers in proportion to their market share. The butter will be packed for retail sale with special labelling to make it clear that it is benefiting from a special additional Community subsidy. A statutory instrument will be laid shortly fixing the maximum retail price of this butter at 44p per 250g. Butter prices vary widely according to the varying costs involved in selling through different shops and in different parts of the country. I expect that customers would generally be able to obtain this butter at prices significantly below those for normal butter supplies in the recent past.