§ Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps are being taken by the EEC to ensure that the meat processing industry secures meat at prices competitive with imports; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonIn January 1988 the Commission reintroduced sales of bone-in hindquarters from intervention for processing and reduced the price of forequarter meat by 10 per cent.
In February the Commission gave the following undertaking to the Agriculture Council:
The Commission recognises the need to ensure that additional supplies of beef are available to the community meat processing industry on terms that enable Community production to be competitive with products from other sources. It will make additional quantities of meat available to processors from intervention stocks on terms which will take into account, as far as possible, the prices and other conditions which existed previously.As far as we are aware, the Commission's sales policy in respect of meat for the processing industry has not given rise to problems of competition, except as regards high meat content canned beef products. My officials have made representations to the Commission services urging them to honour the undertaking given to the Council by making meat available to this part of the processing sector
46W
1988 1986 ecus/l00kg £/100kg ecu/100kg £/100kg Young Bulls U2 246.242 174.97 295.2 187. 64 at prices which will enable it to compete with imports from third countries. We currently await the Commission's reaction.