§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce legislation to abolish the Potato Marketing Board.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe power to abolish the board is vested in producers because it is a producer organisation constituted under the Agricultural Marketing Act 1958. Producers can decide at any time to call for a poll to revoke the potato marketing scheme. Provisions for the protection of the public interest arising from any act or omission by a marketing board are contained in the 1958 Act. My hon. Friend will recall that proposals for amending the potato marketing scheme and for introducing revised potato support arrangements were considered at length and approved by both Houses in February.
§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what criteria are used by the Potato Marketing Board to determine (a) the amount of potatoes to be withdrawn from the market in order to support prices and (b) the means by which they should subsequently be disposed of.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe board can intervene in the market in two ways up to a limit of 500,000 tonnes in any season. Between November and May, the board operates a system of pre-season contracts with producers, this season limited to 420,000 tonnes of potatoes. If the average ex-farm price is at or below the contract price for the month in question the board takes delivery of the potatoes under contract that month and removes them from the human consumption market. If the price is £2 or more above the contract price then producers are released from their contractual obligations and can sell the potatoes for human consumption. In any event producers can opt to be released from their contracts if they have a market at a higher price than the board contract.
In addition to these contract arrangements, the board may intervene directly on the market at any time during the season to buy up local surpluses to a limit of the balance between its contracts and 500,000 tonnes. Intervention is triggered if for three consecutive trading days ex-farm prices in a board district are below the trigger price for the period in question. The trigger prices are set well below the level of pre-season contract prices except in the first two weeks of July when special market circumstances apply. In disposing of any potatoes bought under market support arrangements the board is obliged by the Government to seek the highest value disposal outlets available. Over the course of a season most of the potatoes bought would be re-sold for stockfeed.