HC Deb 27 July 1989 vol 157 c952W
36. Mr. Boswell

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on recent trends in agriculture and food exports.

Mr. Maclean

Over the first five months of 1989, exports of food, feed and other agricultural products reached a record for the period of £1,978 million. This was 19.5 per cent. higher than the same periods of 1988 and 1987 respectively. It should be noted that exports of some basic agricultural products, such as grain, livestock and lightly processed foods, can vary considerably from year to year. But apart from this, exports of more processed food manufactured in the United Kingdom have been growing steadily for a number of years.