HC Deb 04 May 1988 vol 132 cc479-82W
Mr. Teddy Taylor

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total amount of beef exported in the most recent annual period for which figures are available; which countries the exports were sent to; and what was the price of buying the meat into intervention and of subsidising its export, respectively.

Mr. Donald Thompson

176,140 tonnes of beef were exported from the United Kingdom in 1987. The table gives details of destinations. In 1987, 20,406 tonnes of intervention beef were sold under sales which required the beef to be exported to third countries. This beef had been purchased during a period the prices paid for intervention ranged from £1,920/tonne to £2,140/tonne for steer carcases of R3 quality on the carcase classification scale. The total expenditure on refunds for all beef exports to third countries in 1987 (including sales from intervention and other exports as well) was £27,401,295.

Tonnes
EC member states
France 79,716
West Germany 15,766
Irish Republic 9,975
Netherlands 9,270
Belgium/Luxembourg 7,056
Italy 3,127
Greece 641
Spain 592
Denmark 318
Portugal 166
Third countries:
Brazil 14,611
Iraq 9,619
Egypt 3,918
Tunisia 3,444
South Africa 3,064
Iran 2,145
Turkey 1,814
Saudi Arabia 1,534
Barbados 1,267
Venezula 1,219
Cyprus 887
Zimbabwe 829
Mauritius 725
Israel 662
French Polynesia 346
Ivory Coast 232
Yugoslavia 214
Hong Kong 196
Tonnes
Sweden 194
Zaire 157
Dubai 150
Taiwan 143
Togo 125
Canary Island 113
Comoros 109
Malta 102
Angola 98
Romania 89
Antigua; Barbuda 87
Kuwait 87
Bahrain 79
India 75
Oman 75
Trinidad and Tobago 73
Gibralta 69
Jordan 62
Sharjah 59
Qatar 57
Bangladesh 50
Hungary 47
Niger 43
Bahamas 42
Sudan 41
Congo 38
Abu Dhabi 37
Senegal 36
Belize 34
Nigeria 30
Grenada 27
St. Lucia 27
Ghana 23
Gambia 22
Gabon 20
British Indian Occupied Territory 18
Czechoslovakia 18
Surinam 18
South Korea 17
Nauru 16
St. Vincent 15
Bolivia 14
Chad 13
Algeria 12
Andorra 12
Dominica 11
St. Helena 10
Djibouti 9
Japan 8
Libya 8
Tanzania 8
Bulgaria 7
Benin 6
Guatemala 6
North Yemen 6
Mayotte 5
Switzerland 5
Syria 5
Falkland Islands 4
Norway 4
Pakistan 4
Greenland 3
St. Kitts, Nevis Federation 2
Soviet Union 2
Zambia 2
Bermuda 1
Canada 1
Kenya 1
United States of America 1
Total trade with EC: 126,627
Total trade with 3rd countries: 49,513
Total trade: 176,140

Mr. Teddy Taylor

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much was spent by the EEC in purchasing meat into public and private intervention over the most recent annual period for which figures are available; and how much was spent on storing and exporting such beef, respectively, during the same period.

Mr. Donald Thompson

Intervention purchases are paid for initially by the member state, but part of the storage and financing costs, as well as the eventual loss on sale, are borne by the European Community. Private storage aid is paid in full by the EC. No separate figures are kept for the cost of export refunds on beef which has been the subject of public intervention storage and aided private storage. 1986 figures are as follows:

million ecus £ million
Total intervention 2,030.5 1,315.5
Private storage 102.3 66.3
Public intervention 1,928.2 1,249.2

Figures are available only for 10 months of 1987, as follows:

million ecus £ million
Total intervention 1,050.3 756
Private storage 66.3 48
Public intervention 984.0 708

Mr. Teddy Taylor

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the current range of prices offered for the purchase of beef into intervention; and what are the comparable figures offered to traders for such beef to be exported, including any specific export subsidy.

Mr. Donald Thompson

Prices for beef being bought into intervention in Great Britain range from £1,646.7/tonne to £1,717.8/tonne for straight cut forequarters depending on the quality.

Prices for sales for export from intervention stocks are currently:

Tonne
Cuts £710.55–£3,908
Forequarters £426.33–£994.76
Hindquarters £1,456.22–£1,598.73

In certain cases prices within these ranges are minimum prices for tender sales and actual prices paid may be higher.

Export refunds are payable only in respect of some sales from intervention stocks, these being generally the sales for which higher prices are sought. The rate varies according to the eventual destination of the beef but the range of rates for frozen beef (adjusted by MCAs) in the week ending 29 April are:

tonne
Cuts £185.50–£727.80
Forequarters £185.50–£483.60
Hindquarters £315.60–£794.00

Mr. Teddy Taylor

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest estimate of the amount of beef produced and consumed internally by the EEC; and if comparable figures are available for lamb and pork respectively.

Mr. Donald Thompson

The latest figures provided by the European Commission estimate the amount of beef produced and consumed in the EC in 1987 at 8,005,000 tonnes and 7,550,000 tonnes respectively. The equivalent estimates for mutton and lamb are 1,005,000 tonnes produced and 1,239,000 tonnes consumed, and for pigmeat 12,273,000 tonnes and 12,057,000 tonnes respectively.

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