§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate how the proposed minimum price for B quota sugar compares with the cost of production on a large sugar beet farm; and if he will publish in the Official Report a table giving the breakdown of costs on a representative large sugar beet farm in 1984 or 1983.
§ Mr. MacGregorSugar beet is grown as a single crop and it is not meaningful to relate costs of production to A B or C quota sugar.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for 1973 and each of the past five years the export restitutions on exports of white sugar and the quantities exported, together with the levies on imports of raw sugar;
(2) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for 1973 and each of the past five years the threshold target and intervention prices for white sugar, the basic beet price, the amount and price for A and B quota sugar beet, the amount of the import levy on raw and white sugar and net exports of white sugar.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe information requested on import levies is not readily available and an be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The other information can be obtained for the most recent years from the Commission's publication "The Agricultural Situation in the Community" report 1984. Similar information for the earlier years is contained in previous reports. Copies of these are available in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each year since 1970 the United Kingdom price for white sugar compared with the world price.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe information requested is given in the table:
United Kingdom price for white sugar* £/t World price for white sugar‡ £/t 1970–71 N/A 1970 40.70 1971–72 N/A 1971 46.92
Estimated EC Production of Cereals, 1984 '000 tonnes Germany France Italy Netherlands Belgium and Luxembourg United Kingdom Ireland Denmark Greece EC10 Common wheat 10,223 32,650 5,451 1,120 1,266 14,747 597 2,445 1,734 70,232 Durum wheat — 559 4,685 — — 24 — — 893 6,161 Barley 10,284 11,700 1,634 193 924 11,099 1,601 6,072 840 44,347 Maize 1,026 10,200 6,828 — 42 — — — 1,992 20,088 Oats 2,973 1,890 438 65 126 549 137 157 54 6,389 Rye 1,983 320 25 25 39 29 — 608 6 3,035 Sorghum — 421 107 — — — — — 2 530 Source: EC Commission
498W
United Kingdom price for white sugar* £/t while price for white sugar‡ £/t 1972–73 N/A 1972 73.80 1973–74 91.43 1973 101.06 1974–75 †113.90 1974 310.03 1975–76 160.31 1975 219.94 1976–77 194.46 1976 155.90 1977–78 208.84 1977 114.88 1978–79 231.29 1978 101.21 1979–80 258.52 1979 114.73 1980–81 293.06 1980 294.34 1981–82 319.91 1981 201.92 1982–83 351.83 1982 118.77 1983–84 364.57 1983 139.32 1984–85 364.57 1984 N/A * For 1970–71 to 1972–73 no guaranteed prices for white sugar were set in the United Kingdom. The prices shown for 1973–74 onwards are the intervention prices for white sugar which from 1977–78 include the storage levy. † There were two price settlements in 1974. The price shown is that fixed in the autumn. ‡ There is no single world price for sugar. The prices shown are the average London daily price which is representative of the word price. Source: International Sugar Organisation.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the basis for the proposed increase in the price of sugar under the common agricultural policy.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe information requested can be found in volume 1 of the European Commission's proposals concerning the fixing of prices for agricultural products for 1985–86 (explanatory memorandum 4582/85 dated 28 February 1985) a copy of which is in the Library.