§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in the Official Report details of special sales of food agreed by the management committee of the European Economic Community; and if he will also detail the tonnages of various foodstuffs, the nations to which the sales have been made and the sale prices expressed in sterling per pound, over the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 27 October 1986, c. 48]: In any period, a large number of sales of food on to the internal market and outside the European Community are arranged through the various sectoral management committees of the European Community. These schemes tend to follow established procedures and there is not a recognised category of special sale. Illustratively, however, the following recent sales have distinguishing features:
Beef
(i) Regulation 2670185 of 23 September 1985 (as amended)
This regulation makes available beef bought into intervention after 31 December 1983 and not less than three months before being taken over by the purchaser. Currently, purchase applications must be for a minimum of 15,000 tonnes (bone-in equivalent) and current prices are as follows:
ecu/tonne £/lb Bone-in beef Forequarters 1,150 0.32 Hindquarters 2,050 0.59 Boneless beef Higher value cuts eligible for export refund 2,450 0.71 Lower value cuts eligible for export refund 1,410 0.41 Lower value cuts not eligible for export refund 475 0.14
Sales are to traders who must export the beef to one of the many destinations for which an export refund is fixed. Information on quantities sold is not available.(ii) Regulation 1812/86 of 11 June 1986 (as amended)
This regulation makes available beef bought into intervention before 1 April 1986 for sale by trader for export to Brazil. Tenders must be for a minimum of 10,000 tonnes; at each adjudication 30 per cent. of the quantities sold must come from Italian stocks and the total must come from at least three member states. 200,000 tonnes have been contracted for so far, at the following prices:546W
Average sales price tonnes ecu/tonne £/lb France 90,000 502 0.14 Germany 10,000 447 0.13
tonnes ecu/tonne £/lb Italy 70,000 418 0.12 Ireland 10,000 519 0.15 United Kingdom 20,000 436 0.13 Butter
(iii) Regulation 765/86 of 14 March 1986
Tonnage of butter sold: 118,000 tonnesCountry of destination: USSR (the regulation provided for sales, so far unrealised, to India and Pakistan.) Average sale price per 1b: £0.60.