§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the progress of measures to counter the dumping of Norwegian farmed salmon on the European Community.
§ Mr. SainsburyI have been asked to reply.
Allegations of the dumping of Norwegian farmed salmon on the Community market in 1989 have now been investigated by the European Commission following a formal complaint to it by the Scottish Salmon Board and the Irish Salmon Growers' Association. In its initial report to member states, the Commission stated that it had found evidence of dumping of Norwegian salmon on the Community market and resultant injury to Community producers. Although the report proposed a provisional anti-dumping duty a majority of member states opposed this proposal. The Norwegian Government subsequently indicated that measures which had been taken in 1990 to help stabilise the market would be continued into 1991 and it offered to discuss with the Commission any future 209W instability in the farmed salmon market. The Commission then proposed that the anti-dumping investigation should formally be terminated without remedy. This proposal has recently been put to the Council and the Government are now considering how to respond to it.