§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the effect for New Zealand's dairy farmers of the decision taken by the European Commission on 19 July to raise export restitutions on dairy products.
§ Mr. CurryIt is for the New Zealand Government to assess the likely effect on New Zealand dairy farmers.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in the light of the current state of the international dairy market and the negotiations now taking place in Geneva on the general agreement on tariffs and trade Uruguay round, if he will make a statement on the reasons for the decision taken by the European Commission on 19 July to raise export restitutions on dairy products.
§ Mr. CurryThe Commission acted on its own authority and without consulting member states. We had, however, made it clear on earlier occasions that we were opposed to an increase in export refunds in the dairy sector at this time. The world dairy market is already depressed as a result of declining demands coupled with increasing production and low-priced eastern European exports which have not previously played a significant part in the market. Clearly increasing the level of subsidised exports from the Community is not the right way to tackle our underlying problem of overproduction.