§ Mr. Cockeramasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if Her Majesty's Government will seek authority from the European Economic Community for further sales of cheap surplus butter in 1985.
§ Mr. JoplingStocks of surplus butter have built up because the Community has set support prices at levels which encourage production and discourage consumption. The freeze in the target price for milk and the introduction of quotas agreed at the 1984 CAP price fixing were important steps towards securing a better balance in the market and so avoiding the need for special disposal measures. Special short term sales of butter on the Community market tend to disrupt normal supplies, force fresh butter into intervention stocks and are costly to the Community budget. We opposed the present scheme and would not favour its repetition later in 1985.