§ Mr. Macleanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on the proposed restrictions on butterfat improvement; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacGregorConcern has been expressed by all sections of the industry that an EC Commission proposal, which was designed to prevent evasion of the supplementary levy through fraudulent adjustment of the butterfat content of milk, could penalise producers for normal compositional variations and developments. I am pleased to say that following representations which we and other member states have made, it has now been agreed in the regulation that penalties will not apply where it can be shown that increased butterfat content is a normal result of production conditions.