HC Deb 05 March 1984 vol 55 c438W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what is now the quantity of each of the principal foodstuffs in surplus sold by the European Economic Community on world markets in 1983, and the cost to the European Economic Community in each case by way of export subsidies, and so on;

(2) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing, for each commodity and manufactures thereof, the total of export restitutions net of export taxes on surplus common agricultural policy products exported to third countries in 1982, the estimate for 1983 and the provision for 1984.

Mr. MacGregor

The latest information available on the levels of EC exports of the main commodities currently in structural surplus is that contained in my reply of 20 December 1983, at c.170. The information requested on the cost of export refunds — net of monetary compensatory amounts — is set out in the following table:

been paid. No seperate Community expenditure figures for field beans are available; provisional forecasts of Community expenditure in 1983 on dried peas and beans was 84.6 million ECU — £50 million—of which £11 million was spent in the United Kingdom.

Field beans are mainly used in the United Kingdom for animal feed. In 1983, United Kingdom production was 109,541 tonnes, valued at some £21 million, exports to other member states were 18,776 tonnes, valued at £3.6 million, and exports to third countries were 3,506 tonnes, valued at £800,000. The application of the scheme to dried peas and beans for human consumption expires on 30 June unless the Commission proposes and the Council accepts an extension.