§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the effect the elimination of the subsidy on crushing domestically-produced rapeseed would have on production of rapeseed in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe effect of the removal of the rapeseed crushing subsidy would be that crushers would not buy Community seed except where world prices were at or above Community levels. The seed not purchased by crushers would be sold into intervention or exported with the aid of export refunds. This should not greatly change the returns to growers. If the whole of the rapeseed support system were removed, but the support systems for other arable crops remained in place, most growers would no doubt opt to switch out of rapeseed production unless world prices were very firm.