§ 31. Mr. Parryasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the latest European Community entry price, expressed as a percentage of the third world offer price, for white sugar, using the definitions and methods of calculation used by the European Community.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe current figure is 239 per cent. This reflects the present very depressed state of the world market price for sugar, which is highly volatile: for example in 1980–81 it was 84 per cent. of the world price.
Note: The entry price has been defined as the target price and the offer price has been calculated by subtracting from the threshold price the common import levy in ECUs on 3 February. This offer price does not represent the price at which imports into the Community in fact take place. All but negligible quantities are imported as raw sugar levy free under the terms of the sugar protocol to the Lomé convention.