§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing imports into the European Economic Community and the United State of America respectively of milk products, cotton, sugar and groundnuts, together with the quotas and tariffs levies applicable in each case.
583W
§ Mr. MacGregorThe information requested on volumes of imports into the European Community and the United States is shown for 1982 in the following table.
SITC heading European Community imports 000 tonnes United States imports 000 tonnes Butter 023 109 1 Cheese 024 104 115 Milk powder 022.42 3 2 022.43 Condensed milk 022.49 2 3 Sugar (white sugar equivalent) 61 1,363 2,372 Groundnuts 222 354 1 SourcesEC. Eurostat; US, FAO and UN.
All these items enter the Community free of duty. Variable levies are payable on milk products and sugar; these are set to reflect the difference between Community and third country offer prices.
A reduced rate of levy applies to a specific quantity of butter imported from New Zealand; the volume fixed for 1982 was 92,000 tonnes. Similarly reduced rates of levy applied in 1982 on up to 34,200 tonnes of certain cheeses imported from specific third countries. In addition, unlimited access to the European Community market, at reduced rates of levy, is allowed for certain cheeses from various third countries.
Under protocol No. 7 of the ACP/EEC convention, specific quantities of sugar which originate in certain ACP states are imported free of levy. The total annual quantity of sugar covered by this arrangement, is 1.3 million tonnes white sugar equivalent. A wide range of tariffs and quantitative restrictions apply to imports into the United States. Rates of duty can vary according to source, size of consignment, date of importation and for other reasons: details are contained in the "Tariff schedules of the United States (1984)" but these cover many pages and could not reasonably be reproduced.
Trade policy on cotton is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.