Milk Quotas (Hansard, 13 December 1988)

§ Mr. Cox
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the number of milk quotas allowed to be purchased by new milk producers in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Donald Thompson
I regret that this information is not available.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many United Kingdom dairy farmers participated in the milk non-marketing scheme or dairy herd conversion scheme and subsequently made applications for quotas to his Department.

§ Mr. Donald Thompson
It would be disproportionately expensive to estimate this figure.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects the increase in the provision of extra milk quota in the European Community to reach 1 million tonnes.

§ Mr. Donald Thompson
Community milk quotas excluding the quota allocated to Spain on its accession in 1986 have in fact been reduced, from some 104 million tonnes in 1984–85 to 94 million tonnes in the current year. The Commission has proposed an increase in the quota reserve of 500,000 tonnes as part of its response to a judgment of the European Court and this is being considered at the Agriculture Council which commenced yesterday.
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§ Mr. Ron Davies
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the criteria will be for the allocation of extra milk quota, available after the Mulder judgment between eligible United Kingdom farmers; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Donald Thompson
The criteria for the allocation of extra milk quota are to be discussed at this week's meeting of the Agriculture Council. I shall make my usual statement after the Council.