§ Mr. Lathamasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much butter which would otherwise have been sold under normal market conditions he anticipates will go into intervention, having been displaced from the market by the special European Community scheme for cheaper butter at Christmas; and what will be the cost to the United Kingdom taxpayers of this substitution.
§ Mr. JoplingButter sold under the EEC special sale scheme will tend to displace fresh butter which would otherwise have been sold on the market. This is one of the reasons why we opposed this scheme. However, the displacement of normal sales will not necessarily be fully reflected in sales into intervention in the United Kingdom. This is partly because sales of imported butter may well decline and imports be reduced and partly because lower prices for butter may encourage consumption of butter at the expense of alternative fats. It is not possible to provide estimates of the consequences of these effects which will depend on the reactions of consumers to the availability of the special sale butter and of traders and others involved in the production and marketing of butter.