§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the Governments future support policy for potatoes.
§ Mr. MacGregorRevised support arrangements were introduced for potatoes in Great Britain on 1 July 1985. They are due to be reviewed before 30 June 1990, to enable decisions to be taken on the form of any subsequent support. To give time for a thorough debate and give the industry as much notice as possible of any changes, we must make an early start to the review. The Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales and I will, therefore, be issuing a consultation paper in the autumn seeking comments from all interested parties.
It seems unlikely on present indications that any changes as a result of the review would take effect before 1 July 1991. In so far as this would necessarily involve an extension of the support arrangements financed jointly by the Government and the Potato Marketing Board beyond 30 June 1990, during the review the Government will be exploring with the farmers unions and the board ways of reducing their financial commitment after that date.