§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps are being taken to ensure that tobacco is not grown in any area of the Community where other crops can successfully be grown, for instance in the area immediately around Naples.
§ Baroness TrumpingtonThe EC Commission's proposals to reform the tobacco regime, currently under negotiation in Brussels, would significantly reduce EC production by confining support to a quota of 340,000 tonnes (some 110,000 tonnes less than projected production for 1991). Quota would be allocated, by varieties, to member states. Many Italian growers would come under pressure to convert out of tobacco production since around 40 per cent. of current Italian production would lose all market support. The Government are pressing for the radical reform achievements in the current negotiations.