EGGS AUTHORITY (Hansard, 25 November 1985)

§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Belstead)

Yes. When we announced publication of the report of the review committee under the chairmanship of my right honourable friend Lord Peyton of Yeovil, we said that we should be giving the egg industry an opportunity to consider and comment on the committee's commendation that the authority should be dissolved.

We have taken careful note of the many representations we have received, which revealed differences of view within the egg industry. We do not consider that we should be justified in retaining a statutory body which does not command the widespread support of the industry concerned. We have accordingly decided to bring the authority to an end and propose to introduce a clause into the Agriculture Bill for this purpose.

The review committee was impressed by the potential of the British Egg Industry Council, which already brings together, on a voluntary basis, all the major associations in the egg industry. We agree that the council provides scope for the industry to consider collectively its needs of the future and how these can best be met. This will include the means by which the egg industry would raise any funds it wished to devote to research and development in the light of the Government's recently announced policy of looking to the agricultural sector to shoulder some part of this cost. We shall be ready to hold discussions with the industry and BEIC about these matters. We shall consider sympathetically whatever arrangements the egg industry works out. One possibility would be to use the Industrial Organisation and Development Act 1947 to set up a development council. On the other hand, the industry might prefer voluntary arrangements.