§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the consequences of the proposal in the draft general agreement on tariffs and trade text, that import controls on bananas should be converted into a tariff on African, Caribbean and Pacific banana producers.
§ Mr. GummerThe draft general agreement on tariffs and trade text calls for all border measures other than 619W ordinary customs duties applying to agricultural products to be converted into tariff equivalents and for current access opportunities to be maintained on terms at least equivalent to those existing. The tariff equivalent would in principle be applied to all dollar banana imports above current access volumes. It is unclear whether the tariff equivalent would have to be paid on African, Caribbean and Pacific sendings above their current level; nevertheless, fruit up to that volume would continue to enter the Community duty free.